One Mistake
by Aurora Nightstar
Summary: Harry Potter met Daphne Greengrass under the worst of circumstances, and he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Can he earn her forgiveness? The fate of the wizarding world just might depend on it.
1. Problem

Draco left the Great Hall feeling the full weight of what he had done. He ran to the bathroom not realizing he was being followed. He took off his sweater and tears rolled down his cheeks. He splashed his face with water and began to cry.

Of course, Daphne heard about this bathroom before and knew it was a place to be avoided. A girl was murdered here, and her ghost still haunted the premises to this day. She wondered why Draco took off his sweater. To her, the room seemed inexplicably colder than the other outer corridor. The lighting seemed dimmer with a silvery blue overcast. She found herself peering around every inlet of the walls, as though she expected a murderer to jump out and surprise her. She imagined she too was being followed. She tried to convince herself that was just an echo originating from her own footsteps.

"What is wrong?" Daphne called out to Draco.

"I can't talk about it," Draco responded and continued to cry. He put his hands down and clasped the edge of the sink.

"Talk to me. I can't help unless you talk to me." Daphne approached him and put her arms around him.

He turned around and leaned into her chest and continued to cry. "You can't help me. Nobody can," Draco said.

Harry watched Draco with Daphne for a few moments. He knew Daphne Greengrass by name and reputation only. He had a little bit of a crush on her. He could not deny that she was one of the prettiest girls in the entire school. He first noticed her a few years ago when she tossed that stupid 'Potter Stinks' badge in the trash. He even briefly contemplated asking her to be his date to the Yule ball but decided against it after learning about her reputation as the ice princess of Slytherin who turned down every guy who ever asked her out. After Cho Chang turned him down, he didn't feel like getting another rejection. He doubted he would be the exception, so he never acted on these feelings.

"I know what you did, Malfoy," Harry called out.

Daphne looked over at Harry and rolled her eyes. "Great, what are you accusing us of now?" Daphne asked.

"Not you. Him," Harry clarified. "You hexed her, didn't you?"

"We didn't do anything." She let go of Draco and threw her hands in the air.

"Stay out of this," Draco interrupted her. He fired off a stunner spell in Harry's direction. Harry ducked for cover as streams of energy sparked up against the wall.

Daphne couldn't believe how reckless Draco was being in attacking Harry. In classes, he had yet to beat him in a magical duel. This was the same kind of foolhardiness that got him trampled during animal handling class several years ago. She ran further into the bathroom. There was no way she was going to try to pass Potter and risk getting fired at. She wished there was another way out, but as far as she knew, there wasn't.

Fortunately, Harry was standing in the hall that led to the bathroom, which opened up into a much larger room. She crouched down into a corner. She watched as Draco and Harry exchanged more shots at each other. The noise and the lights scared her, and she was mostly just hoping not to get hit with anything. A missed shot shattered a nearby sink, and water spilled all over the floor from the exposed pipes. After seeing how much damage their magic was doing to the room, she began to fear that one or both of them were going to get seriously hurt. Or worse.

Draco stepped out in the main hall and pointed his wand at Harry. "Crucio." Draco smiled as he watched Harry fall to his knees.

Harry screamed as he collapsed on the floor. His glasses fell off and he dropped his wand. All he felt was pain like nothing he ever felt before. He couldn't get up or move.

Daphne heard Harry's screams. She went over to Draco and looked down at Harry on the floor. "You don't want to do this!" Tears streamed down her face. "Please stop."

Draco ignored her and continued to maintain his spell. "Just leave and pretend like nothing happened."

"Stop, you are going too far." Daphne knocked Draco's wand out of his hand. She couldn't believe he had actually done it. He used one of the unforgivable curses.

As Harry recovered from the pain and shock, he sat up and felt around for his wand. He found it fairly quickly.

"I thought I told you to stay out of this," Draco sneered at her. He didn't realize Harry had already reclaimed his wand.

"Please, you don't want to…" Daphne began to speak.

"Look out," Draco interrupted her.

Daphne turned around and saw Harry with his wand pointed in their direction.

Harry decided this would be a good chance to try out that new spell. "Sectumsempra!" Harry called out. Then he managed to put his glasses back on.

"Ahhh…" Daphne screamed as Harry's spell hit her.

Little white lights engulfed Draco and Daphne. Slash marks appeared over their faces and bodies. Both screamed and collapsed with a splash in the now partly flooded floor.

Harry managed to find his glasses. He put them on and got to his feet. He was horrified at what he had done. As much as he disliked Draco, he would not have used that particular spell at all if he had known exactly what it did. This spell was worse than the one Draco had used against him. "Oh, no," Harry mumbled. He blocked his mouth in reaction to his disgust. Blood mixed with the water, changing its color to a deep crimson red around both Draco and Daphne.

Both Draco and Daphne were panting and gasping for breath. Neither could form words or coherent sentences. Professor Snape marched right in. He gave Harry a nasty stare that showed his utter contempt. "Vulnera Sanentur." Snape pointed his wand at Draco. He repeated the phrase Vulnera Sanentur again and waved his wand over his injuries. Slowly the wounds began to heal.

Harry heard a giggle that was all too familiar. "Looks like I will finally get some company," Myrtle, the ghost said.

Harry looked over at Daphne. She stopped moving completely, and her eyes were wide open. Harry feared it was already too late for her, but he had to try. Harry raced over to Daphne and did his best to copy what professor Snape was doing. "Vulnera Sanentur," he called out as he waved his wand over her, while professor Snape continued to heal Draco. Much to Harry's relief, the spell was working, except that she didn't seem to be waking up. Both Draco and Daphne were placed under the care of Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.

Professor Snape left with Draco and Daphne. "What have I done," Harry muttered to himself.

"Aw, tell me all about it." Myrtle grinned. "Hmm," Myrtle floated circling around Harry. Harry let out a deep sigh, but no words came out. "You made quite a mess of my bathroom."

"Yeah, that is the problem here," Harry said sarcastically. He hung his head down and left the bathroom.

* * *

**Hospital Wing**

Harry visited Daphne in the hospital wing. "I am so sorry," he told her. Of course, Daphne could hear him, but she was still unconscious and unable to respond.

_"I am so sorry," Harry said to Daphne. She looked over and saw Draco's lifeless body drowning in a pool of water mixed with his own blood. "But I can't leave a witness." _

_A transparent form of Draco stood over Draco's body. "This is all your fault. If you had left when I told you…" His voice trailed off as four Dementors dragged Draco's spirit through the floor. _

_Harry pointed his wand at her and fired off another spell. "Avada Kedavra. I don't know if you can hear me, but I am really sorry," Harry repeated. A green light escaped the tip of his wand and struck her. _

_"Crap," Daphne said as now she could see right through her own hand and look down at her own body that also lifelessly just laid on the floor. She didn't realize she was only dreaming._

"Miss Greengrass hasn't woken up yet," Madam Pomfrey told Harry.

"Do you think she ever will?" Harry asked. His eyes misted slightly with tears.

"She did lose a lot of blood and some of those wounds are pretty deep," Madam Pomfrey said. Harry hung his head down and wished there was something he could actually do to help. "Hopefully, she will respond well to the blood transfusion."

"If she needs a blood donor, I will do it," Harry volunteered.

"Very nice of you. I will let you know." She smiled. "I didn't realize you and Miss Greengrass were that close."

"We are not." Harry looked at her and couldn't hide his surprised reaction. Madam Pomfrey seemed to have no idea that Harry was actually responsible for this. He wondered what Professor Snape told her when Daphne and Draco were brought here.

"Oh, I just assumed," Madam Pomfrey said.

Professor Snape walked in and looked at Draco and Daphne. "I contacted their parents," he said.

"Good. What happened to them exactly, anyway?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Like I told their parents, that is still under investigation," Professor Snape said. Then he shifted his gaze to Harry. He stared at him for a few moments with an unspoken accusation tempered with just a bit of fear that he already knew the answer. He recognized his own work from a spell he created decades ago, back when he too was a student at Hogwarts.

"Ok," Madam Pomphrey nodded before she left the room.

Snape grabbed Harry's shoulder with a tight grip that made Harry cringe. "What did you do? Did you have anything to do with this?" He pointed to Draco and Daphne.

"Yes, I did," Harry admitted. "It was an accident. Malfoy started it…"

"Accident? What spell did you use?" Professor Snape interrupted. He spoke with a raised voice and his hand squeezed slightly harder.

"Who said anything about it being a spell?" Harry asked.

Professor Snape gave him a stern look. "Do I need to get Veritaserum?"

"No sir. It was a hand-written spell from my potions book," Harry admitted. "Probably created by the previous owner, the half-blood prince."

Snape's mouth gaped open as he processed those words. He loosened his collar. This was exactly what he had feared. He realized he should have destroyed that book a long time ago. "Ah," he gulped.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"I will be assigning you detentions, and of course, your Hogsmeade privileges will be revoked," Professor Snape explained. His gaze remained fixated on Draco and Daphne.

"I was expecting a far worse punishment," Harry admitted.

"If either one of them dies." He pointed between Draco and Daphne. "It will be, I assure you."

"I understand." Harry nodded. He truly hoped that would not happen, and it had nothing to do with the threat of a worse punishment looming over him. Knowing he actually killed someone would be the worst punishment of his life.

"I will keep this quiet for now. If one of them dies, I will have no choice but to disclose everything to their families and you will be up on very serious charges. If they wake up, it will be up to them if they want to press any formal charges against you," Professor Snape said. If Draco and Daphne woke up, he was confident he could intimidate both of them into keeping quiet about this, but he doubted he would have the same pull with their parents. Snape knew if this went to trial, his spell would be revealed, and he would most likely be sent to Azkaban for it.

Over the next few days, Harry visited as often as possible. He couldn't be there as often as he would like because of the extra detentions Professor Snape had given him. There was no change in either of them. Both still remained unconscious. Madam Pomfrey did not take Harry up on his offer to be a blood donor. Draco's mother donated for her son and Daphne's aunt donated for her.

But today was different. As Harry approached, he heard Draco's voice. This was probably the first time he had ever been happy to hear him. "But it was your fault though," Draco said.

"My fault? How so?" Daphne asked.

A smile spread across Harry's face. He was overwhelmed with a sense of relief knowing that Daphne finally woke up. He donned his cloak of invisibility and simply lurked by the entrance way. He didn't want to risk Daphne being caught in the middle of another confrontation between Draco and himself.

"If you had left when I told you to, this never would have happened," Draco declared.

Harry wished this never happened. He wished she had just left when Draco told her to. He had not yet realized the full implications of that.

"I had Potter down with a spell. You could have easily just left. But what did you do? You knock my wand out of my hand and wrecked my spell. What were you thinking?"

"If you used a simple stunner spell, I would have done that, but no, you had to use an unf…." Daphne paused midsentence, as she glanced around the room. She realized what the punishment was for such a spell. "You had to use that particular spell. That spell should never be used for any reason. Besides, how was I supposed to know Potter would actually try to kill us?"

"He will undoubtedly try again," Draco warned her.

Daphne groaned. "Yeah and thanks to your little spell, we can't do anything about it," Daphne admitted. She expected Draco to say something, but he just gave her a blank stare. "If we tell on him, he will tell on you… And you will be in trouble."

Harry already felt plenty guilty about what happened to Daphne, but finding out that the only reason she got hurt in the first place was because she stopped Draco from hurting him, made him feel even worse. Harry rushed back to his own room, with the weight of the world on his shoulders, wondering how he could possibly make things right again.

To be continued….

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank CSGT for helping with this story.


	2. Hogsmeade Weekend

Once professor Snape learned that Draco and Daphne finally woke up, he promptly paid them a visit to the hospital wing. He had one goal in mind, talking both of them out of pressing charges against Mr. Potter. "I would like to know exactly how this happened," Professor Snape asked them. He put up silencing wards around the hospital room.

"Draco was upset about something. He wouldn't tell me why," Daphne said.

"Yeah and then Potter came in and attacked us for no reason," Draco added.

"He said something about hexing someone. I have no idea what he was talking about." Daphne turned to face, Draco wondering if he could shed some light on this.

"Ah, me neither," Draco played dumb.

"Who started it?" Professor Snape asked. According to Harry, Draco started it, but he wanted to see if their answers would match.

"Potter," Draco said at the same time Daphne said "Draco."

"Potter started it with his bogus accusations. Wait till father hears about this," Draco said. "She is right though. I did throw the first spell." He would have loved to lie about the whole thing and blame Potter for everything, but it was clear Daphne was going to tell the truth and her story would no doubt be believed because it would be a better match to what Potter would say.

"Then it is probably in both of your best interests not to press charges against Mr. Potter. Dumbledore, no doubt, will see Harry's actions as self-defense."

"Draco and I have already discussed this, and we agree." Daphne nodded.

"Excellent!" Professor Snape smiled before leaving.

"Figures, Snape took Potter's side," Draco told Daphne once he was pretty sure Professor Snape was out of earshot.

* * *

Professor Snape kept Harry busy all morning cleaning out the caldrons while all of Harry's friends went off to enjoy Hogsmeade weekend. He managed to work up quite the appetite. He could hear his stomach rumbling. It was music to Harry's ears when Professor Snape finally released him to go to lunch at the Great Hall.

As Harry approached the base of the stairwell, he looked up and noticed Daphne Greengrass. He called out to her. "Daphne," his voice managed to echo through the stairwell.

Daphne turned around and looked down at him. Her eyes opened wider. "Oh no," she raced the rest of the way up the stairs and hurried into the Great Hall hoping for safety in numbers. He wouldn't attack her in a crowded room, would he? She looked around as she entered and couldn't help noticing all the empty seats. It was always like this on Hogsmeade weekend. She should have known. She never went to those. So much for safety in numbers. Of all the days to leave her wand back in her room.

Harry entered the Great Hall. "Glad I caught you here, alone," he said without thinking.

"Ah," Daphne cringed at the sound of his voice. Her eyes opened wide and she sweated slightly. She turned around and looked at him. She wished it were her mind playing tricks on her, but no, he actually seemed to be there.

He couldn't help noticing how frightened Daphne was. He did not wish to scare her. Quite the opposite actually, but given how their last encounter went, he couldn't blame her for not realizing it.

"I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to apologize," Harry said as calmly as he could.

"Oh, that is really not necessary," Daphne said.

"Then you forgive me?" Harry asked, a bit taken back and surprised.

"Oh, no! Of course not," Daphne answered. "I just meant Draco and I are not going to press charges against you as long as you don't press charges against him. So, there is no reason for you to pretend to be a nice guy."

"I am not pretending anything!" Harry was slightly offended. Harry felt around in his pocket and found that Liquid Luck potion that he won in Potions class. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I never used that spell before. I didn't know what it did. It was an accident."

"Yeah right!" Daphne didn't buy it, not one single bit. She was completely convinced he knew exactly what he was doing. He did it on purpose simply because he always hated Draco… And probably everyone else in Slytherin too. "Well next time you want to try out a new spell, please don't make me your guinea pig."

"That was never my intention. I didn't have my glasses on, so I could barely see. Plus, I was really disorientated after Malfoy's spell."

"I am not at all happy with Draco for using that particular spell, but it wasn't my fault. So please don't blame me," Daphne requested.

"I know where the blame goes on that one. I also know it was you who made him stop, and for that, I thank you."

Daphne still didn't believe him. If he remembered it clearly enough to have known she stopped Draco, then he couldn't possibly have been that disoriented. She didn't realize he only knew that because he overheard her talking to Draco about it after the fact.

Harry pulled out the vial of liquid luck potion he won not so long ago. "You might remember, I won this in potions class a few weeks ago. I want you to have it. Consider it a thank you gift."

"You would actually give me a liquid luck potion?" Daphne questioned. 'Yeah, right, it is probably poison,' she thought to herself. "No thank you. Like I said, forget it."

"I really want to make this up to you somehow," Harry said.

"Forget it," Daphne insisted. Daphne breathed a sigh of relief when Professor Snape walked in. She felt confident Harry wouldn't dare attack her in front of him. She joined up with him, followed closely behind by Harry. "May I sit with you, professor?"

"Sure! You both can," Professor Snape said. He would rather they didn't, but he figured it didn't matter. He would eat quickly and leave.

"Damn it," Daphne muttered under her breath. She was disappointed when Harry followed them over to the table.

"What did you say?" Harry asked.

"Oh, nothing," Daphne said as they all sat down at the head table. "Why didn't you go to Hogsmeade weekend?" She wished he had.

"Can't! Stuck in detention." Harry looked down at his plate. Despite being hungry, he could barely manage to eat. He knew it was because of what he did to her and Draco that made him unable to go, but he didn't want to focus on that. "Why didn't you go?"

"I never go." She shrugged that off as something she never gave much thought to.

"You should. It is fun," Harry said.

"Oh, no, I couldn't. I am so far behind on my schoolwork," Daphne said.

"You will catch up quickly," Professor Snape assured her. "You only missed a few classes."

"Sorry," Harry said again. He knew he was the reason she missed those few classes.

"It is not that. Ok, well it is not just that," Daphne said. She hoped nobody would ask her to explain. She found last years Defense Against the Dark Arts class to be completely useless and a total waste of her time. She didn't learn a damn thing. It seemed other students learned quite a bit last year, but she didn't.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. You are doing great in all of your classes," Professor Snape assured her.

"I am not doing well enough," Daphne declared.

"If you like, this afternoon, you can come to the classroom and I will go over some of the material you missed."

"You would do that?" Daphne smiled. "Thank you, professor."

"Yeah, I am just watching Harry here, in detention, so I am pretty much stuck in the classroom too."

"Oh!" Daphne's smile disappeared as she tried to think of an excuse not to go. Wherever Harry was, she definitely didn't want to be there too. "I would love to... I mean I really would, but, ah, I am not feeling well. I think I will just go back to my room and lay down for a while."

"It is obvious I am making you very uncomfortable just by being here. All I wanted to do was to apologize to you. That is all. I am truly sorry, and I won't bother you again. Promise." Harry knew it was because of him that Daphne turned down Professor Snape's invitation and it made him feel even worse about everything that happened. "If it is alright with you professor, I would like to step outside for a bit."

"Suit yourself," Professor Snape said. "Just be back on time for the rest of your detention." After Harry left, Professor Snape turned to Daphne. "If you decide to stop lying - I mean feel better, feel free to stop by the classroom."

"Is it that obvious?" Daphne asked, to which Professor Snape just nodded. "It isn't that I don't want the lessons. I really do, but I don't want to be around him."

"You can't avoid him all the time. He is in many of your classes," Professor Snape reminded her.

* * *

Daphne returned to the Slytherin common room. She was thankful for the peace and quiet of having the place to herself. She used the fireplace communication. "Hello father." She gazed at the fire. She watched a few embers spark up and burn out. She told her father everything that happened that day in the bathroom and how Harry tried to apologize for it saying he wanted to make it up to her.

Her father listened with a great deal of interest. "Harry Potter? Hm… Would you do your dear old dad a favor?"

"What kind of favor?"

"Take Mr. Potter up on his offer to make it up to you."

"Seriously? I guarantee you that potion is nothing but poison."

"Not that! In an article in the Daily Quibbler written by Rita Skeeter last March, Harry made false accusations against your old man and several of my distinguished colleagues."

"I know, father, but don't worry too much about that stupid article. Nobody takes anything that trashy reporter says seriously anyway. She is best known for gossip, half truths and straight up lies. She isn't a serious journalist anyway."

"Be that as it may, her articles still do ruin reputations. Please just try."

"Of course, father," Daphne said.

"I know I can count on you." The image of her father disappeared from the fireplace. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She wanted to ask dad about transferring out of Hogwarts. She no longer felt safe here. Harry deliberately tried to kill her, and Draco was probably right. He would try again. The thought of trying to talk to Harry scared her.

* * *

Daphne wiped the tears from her face, grabbed her books and her wand, then went to class. She would rather talk to Harry in front of Professor Snape where she could feel a sense of security. As she got closer to the door, she could feel her nerves getting the better of her. She lingered by the door, having second thoughts about going in.

"Looks like you were lucky, Mr. Potter. Both survived and neither wish to push the issue any further," Professor Snape said.

"It wasn't luck. Malfoy knows I could get him a one-way ticket to Azkaban for what he did. As for Daphne, she is just protecting him. They are obviously friends. Might be more than that."

Daphne nodded but remained silent. The only reason she didn't tell on Harry was because it would get Draco in trouble too. Draco was her friend and she didn't want to see him locked up.

"Now, I am curious. What exactly did Draco do?" Professor Snape asked.

Daphne edged her way in. "I hate to interrupt." Her voice cracked and her hand shook. She was incredibly nervous. Of course, interrupting was exactly what she wanted to do. She didn't want Professor Snape to know that Draco used an unforgivable curse.

"I am glad you decided to take me up on my offer," Professor Snape said.

"Yes, but before we get started, may I have a few words with Potter?" Daphne requested.

"Certainly, if you want me to step out of the room and give you some privacy," Professor Snape offered.

"NOOOO!" Daphne panicked.

"Fine! Just be quick about it." Snape rolled his eyes at Daphne. He definitely understood. Because this wasn't a formal class, he would allow it.

Harry let out a frustrated sigh. He wasn't quite sure how to convince Daphne he really meant it when he said he was sorry, and he wasn't looking for another opportunity to attack her. Harry resigned himself to a seat in the back of the classroom. He wanted to be as unnoticed as possible, just like he did when he was in the Dursley's house.

Daphne joined Harry in the back of the classroom. She spoke in a tone barely above a whisper. "Were you serious when you said you wanted to make this up to me?"

"Yes, of course." He pulled the liquid luck potion from his pocket.

Daphne waved that off. "Oh, no! Not that. Listen! Until last March, I always thought you were special. I heard about what you did for Dobby and saw what you did for Delcour's sister. I thought of you as a hero, but…" Daphne paused to catch her breath.

She was telling the truth, something she never thought she would admit out loud to anyone. She, unlike most of Slytherin, regarded Harry Potter as a hero. She witnessed firsthand the cruelty Dobby suffered at the hands of his master and took personal delight in that coming to an end. She really admired Harry's heroism especially during the second task of the Triwizard tournament where he tried to save all four of the victims, even a girl he didn't even know. She imagined that if she herself had been among the victims, he would have saved her too. Of course, considering recent events, she no longer believed that. Now she knew he would have let her drown.

Harry couldn't help but to smile at the compliments she just gave him. He wondered if she really meant any of it. "But what?" Harry asked waiting for her to continue.

"Then when I read your interview in the Quibbler where you named my father as a Death Eater, that really upset me. It isn't true. My father would never join that lunatic. If you really want to make it up to me, do what you can to clear my father's name," Daphne requested.

Harry gave her a blank stare. He wasn't quite sure who her father was. He went over the list of names in his head of those he accused. Greengrass… Cyrus Greengrass, of course. He knew she was wrong. If Cyrus Greengrass was her father, he was most definitely also a Death Eater. Unlike Draco, he as of yet had no reason to believe Daphne was also a Death Eater. Could her father be one without her even knowing it? He wanted to ask her how she was so sure her father wasn't one, but he was pretty sure that wouldn't go over very well at all.

Daphne took the total silence as a no.

_At least I can tell dad I tried_, she thought to herself. She really doubted she could get Harry to do it anyway. So, she joined Professor Snape and they went through several lessons without interruption. The first couple hours she frequently looked in Harry's direction. Her nerves definitely got the better of her, but as time went on, she began to forget Harry was even there at all and managed to focus on her lessons.

* * *

Harry was finally dismissed from detention and met back up with his friends Ron and Hermione in the Gryffindor common room. "We did pick you up some candy, but someone ate all of it on the ride back to Hogwarts." Hermione's glare fell on Ron.

Ron forced a cheesy grin. "Sorry," Ron said.

"Forget it!" Harry let out a deep sigh. He stared down at his closed Potions text book and wished he had listened to Hermione in the first place and got rid of that book.

Cormac McLaggen entered the common room. "I was hoping I would find you here," he told Hermione. She took a few steps back and brandished her wand. Cormac laughed and looked to Harry and Ron. "I love it when they play hard to get."

Harry stared at him without saying anything. He remembered when he considered using that Sectumsempra spell on him simply because he was annoying. Of course, that was before he knew what the spell actually did. This reminded him of what Daphne had said about not being used as a guinea pig. He realized she was right. He should not be experimenting with unknown magic and risking people's lives.

"You really need to get rid of that book," Hermione nudged Harry.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank CSGT for his help with this story. I would also like to thank everyone who favorites, followed and/or reviewed this story. To my surprise, this story has been added to three communities. Thanks for that too, greatly appreciated.


	3. Simply Irresistible

While Harry and Hermione walked through the halls of Hogwarts, Harry explained what Daphne had asked of him. "She wants you to get a reporter to retract what you said about her father?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you want my opinion, I would tell her exactly where she can sti…" Then Hermione spotted Daphne. "There she is. Now is your chance." She gave him a nudge.

"Hey Daphne." Harry spoke a tad louder then necessary in an attempt to get her attention.

Daphne narrowed her eyes as she looked at Harry. "I thought you said…" Daphne began to speak.

Harry interrupted as he knew exactly what she was going to say. "I know I said I wouldn't bother you again, but you made a request and I think you deserve an answer," Harry said.

"I thought that was a no."

"Actually, it is a maybe. I won't lie for you, but if you can prove to me that I really did make a mistake, I will fix it," Harry declared.

"Oh," Daphne let out a nervous chuckle. This answer she definitely didn't want. She wanted him to say yes or no and be done with it. She believed her father wasn't a death eater, but she had no idea how to prove it. She trusted her father, so for her, no proof was ever necessary. "How am I supposed to prove it?"

Before Harry could answer her, Professor Slughorn passed through and interrupted them in the hallway and gave Harry a pat on the back. "Don't forget about the dinner party tomorrow night… Oh, and bring a date." Slughorn didn't wait for an answer. He just continued down the hallway.

Harry turned to Hermione. "Great, ask a girl out this last minute?" He mumbled to himself. That not so fond memory of trying to get a date for the Yule ball resurfaced and he still felt the same about it now. He would rather be facing dragons again.

"I know who you could ask. She will definitely say yes." Daphne smiled. She realized an opportunity. If she could get Potter to trust her, then just maybe he wouldn't need proof either. Just maybe she could help Potter get a date. One of her sister's friends had quite the crush on him. This might be a step in the right direction to help her gain his trust.

"He isn't going to ask you," Hermione said.

"Actually, I think that would be a splendid idea!" Harry disagreed with Hermione. Although he knew Daphne always turned down dates, he believed she just might go for it because she might see it as an opportunity to talk about her father and clear his name, but he wouldn't let her play him like that. He planned to turn the tables on her and take advantage of this opportunity to show her that he really is a good person.

"No, thanks. I still don't tru…" Daphne paused and realized flat out telling Potter that she didn't trust him would be harmful to what she wanted to achieve. "That is, I don't date."

"You don't trust me," Harry knew what she was going to say. The disappointment was evident in his voice.

"What? She doesn't trust you. You are the one who shouldn't be trusting her!" Hermione exclaimed.

Daphne rolled her eyes at Hermione. 'Harry is the one that almost killed me, not the other way around' Daphne thought to herself, but she knew she shouldn't say that out loud. Instead she gave a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, I was actually going to suggest Romilda Vane. I know she would love to go out with you."

"Who?" Harry questioned. The name only sounded slightly familiar. Try as he might, he couldn't quite match a face to the name.

"Romilda Vane? You have got to be kidding…" Hermione put her hand on her hip and glared at Daphne for even suggesting it.

"What is wrong with Romilda Vane? She is smart, cute and she would love to date Potter," Daphne retorted.

"Would she really?" Harry asked. After Hermione's negative reaction to the name, he doubted Daphne was telling the truth about this one, but he wasn't quite sure why she would lie about it.

"Yes, of course, she would." Hermione nodded. "But the only reason she wants to date you is because she thinks you are the chosen one."

"Really!" Harry raised a brow. That just confirmed if nothing else, Daphne told the truth. "Maybe I should keep an open mind."

"Suit yourself, but I think you are making a big mistake," Hermione said.

"Big mistake? Please, it is just one date. It isn't like he has to marry the girl," Daphne argued. "What is the worst that could happen?"

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Harry asked Daphne again. "It is just one date. What is the worst that could happen?" Harry through her own words right back at her.

Daphne narrowed her eyes and gave Harry a blank stare. After what did happen in the bathroom, she couldn't believe Harry had the nerve to ask her that question.

"Never mind. Don't answer that." Harry had a pretty good idea what she was thinking despite her silence.

Pansy came by and noticed Daphne talking to Harry. Curiosity got the better of her and she edged over to eavesdrop.

"I know there are plenty of other girls at this school who would love to date you." Daphne put particular emphasis on the word other.

"Don't lie to him. No girl in her right mind would want him." Pansy gave Harry a disgusted look.

Daphne gritted her teeth and glared at Pansy. She was ruining everything as usual. Then she looked to Harry again. "Ignore her. She is just being testy because her boyfriend dumped her," she told him.

"What? He didn't dump me," Pansy insisted.

"I doubt it," Harry retorted. "She is always like that."

"Right." Daphne realized Draco didn't tell her yet. She wanted the subject dropped and she wished Pansy would just go away and mind her own business. She did her best to pretend she wasn't there. "Here is another suggestion. You could always drink that liquid luck potion and then go get yourself a date," Daphne suggested.

"You are asking a lot of that luck potion," Pansy said.

"We are having a private conversation. Will you please just shut up?" Daphne requested.

"What? I am just telling it like it is. Anything short of an imperious curse that would actually force someone to go out with him it isn't going to cut it. That potion is luck, he needs a miracle. He could use a beauty charm and he still isn't going to be any Draco Malfoy," Pansy ranted.

"Oh, please. Malfoy isn't that good looking," Hermione said exactly what Daphne was thinking. "Let's just go." Hermione left for the library fully expecting Harry to follow her, but he didn't.

"Beauty charm? Not a bad idea," Daphne muttered to herself as she pulled out her wand. Sparkly gold glitter washed all over Harry and began to make small improvements in his physical appearance.

Harry couldn't help feeling nervous about this, but as the magic washed all over him, all he felt was a very pleasant tingling sensation. "What did you do?" He asked cautiously.

"It is just a beauty charm. You are looking better already," Daphne said with a faked smile. As of yet, she didn't really see a significant difference. Normally, when she used this spell on herself, she also didn't notice the difference. "Doesn't he?" She nudged Pansy and winked at her.

"What? Yeah, he does," Pansy forced a smile while clasping her hands together.

Daphne mouthed a 'thank you' to Pansy. She always theorized that the real difference others responded to was that boast in confidence, so she hoped pretending it worked better than it really did, would have that same effect on Harry. She was thankful Pansy took the hint and played along.

Harry wished there were a mirror around here so he could see if she was telling the truth. The fakeness of this didn't go unnoticed. He was certain this had to be a prank. Then Harry noticed the expression on Daphne's face change. Her mouth gaped open and her eyes opened a bit wider. She looked him up and down. She leaned ever so slightly toward him.

Daphne did her best not to blink and miss even a millisecond of the utter perfection Harry had become. Something must have gone wrong. Beauty charms were great for hiding scars, clearing up acne, softening freckles, and hiding bags under the eyes, but what was happening to Harry right now went way beyond any of that. He was turning into a sex god. "I think I made a mistake."

"In casting the spell?" Harry began to worry.

"In turning down the date!" Daphne grabbed his robe and pulled him in closer to her. She kissed him in a full open kiss on the mouth. Her arms went around him.

Harry felt weirded by this sudden show of affection, but he didn't let that stop him from enjoying it. He fully returned both the hug and the kiss. Daphne wrapped one of her legs around his and her kisses got more passionate. Her hands explored his back.

For Daphne the lower instincts pretty much took over. She wanted to take off all his clothes and make love to him right there in the hallway. Without thinking, she began loosening his pants.

Harry decided Hermione was right about Daphne. No doubt about it, this was nothing more than some stupid prank designed to humiliate him. He brushed Daphne's hands away from his pants. "No!" he said firmly.

"You are right. We should probably get a room," Daphne suggested. She leaned in for another kiss.

This time Harry backed away. "Ok, very funny. You had your fun."

"Not yet I haven't," Daphne said in a very flirty and seductive tone. She removed her silver hair clip and let her hair fall around her face. "But I intend to."

"I am really not interested," Harry lied.

"Really!" Her eyes focused just a bit below his waist. "Then that is a very large wand you are hiding." She gazed into his eyes and found herself mesmerized.

Harry blushed. He couldn't hide his embarrassment anymore then he could hide that added bulge in his pants. Under different circumstances, he would jump at the chance to be with her, but something was off about this and he knew he shouldn't.

"He said no, back away," Pansy pushed Daphne out of the way and then also found herself trying to undo Harry's pants.

"Oh, no, you first." Harry pushed Pansy's hands away.

"If that is the way you want it." Pansy tossed her own robe on the floor. Then she started to unbutton her own blouse to expose a pale blue satin bra.

Harry's jaw dropped and his hand covered his mouth. He mainly believed this was a prank, but he couldn't believe how far Pansy was taking it. They were still standing in the middle of the hallway. A teacher could walk by at any moment and if one did, Harry wished it could be professor Snape.

"I didn't mean it! I was kidding." Harry donned his cloak of invisibility and made a hasty departure.

* * *

He joined Hermione in the library. She had her nose down in books. Harry took a seat across from her before he removed his invisibility cloak. "I think you are right about Daphne," Harry said. "You wouldn't believe the stupid prank she tried to pull."

"What was that," she asked. Then she looked up and her jaw dropped at the sight of Harry.

"She used a little spell," Harry began. Then he heard a thud on the floor. He realized one of the books fell off the table.

"I better get that," Hermione said as she went under the table.

"She and Parkinson pretended I was…" Harry stopped midsentence as he realized Hermione now had her head down buried in his lap. She too was trying to undo his pants. He pushed her away and just about jumped out of his seat. "Hermione! What got into you!"

Harry realized that in assuming this was a prank, he was very wrong. If Daphne were the type to insight this sort of prank, she might be able to get Pansy to play along, but there was no way she would get Hermione to do as she pleased and what Hermione just tried to do, went completely against her nature. Something obviously went very wrong with Daphne's spell.

* * *

Harry yet again, dawned his cloak of invisibility and sought a teacher's help in removing Daphne's spell. He sought the help of Professor McGonagal. "Professor McGonagal, I need," Harry began.

"Please call me Minerva!" Professor McGonagal looked Harry up and down. Then she approached him. "So, tell me, would you ever consider…" She paused and ran her hand through Harry's hair. "Oh, just like silk." She let out a sigh. "Would you ever consider an older woman?"

Harry backed away. Professor McGonagal advanced on him until he had his back to the chalkboard. She tilted her head to the side as she leaned in for a kiss.

Professor Snape entered the room. He was in disbelief at the sight of Professor McGonagal engaging in inappropriate behavior with a student. "This better not be what it looks like."

Professor McGonagal turned around. Harry took advantage of the distraction and moved away from her.

"It is not her fault, Professor," Harry addressed Snape.

"Potter?" Professor Snape recognized his voice, but Harry didn't quite look like himself.

"It is a spell gone wrong. Every girl I met since, has been going crazy," Harry began to explain.

"And what spell did you use?" Professor Snape demanded to know. He was relieved that whatever it was, it didn't come from his potions book.

"It wasn't me," Harry said.

"Then who did this to you?"

"I would really rather not say."

"I could undo that spell for you."

"I would appreciate that very much."

"You either tell me who used this spell against you, or you can get professor McGonagal to help you instead."

Harry didn't want to tell but judging by the hungry look in Professor McGonagal's eyes, he knew he couldn't count on her for help. "It was Daphne Greengrass," Harry admitted reluctantly. He remembered the time he and Ron hit that tree and Professor Snape threatened them with being expelled had they been in Slytherin. "I don't want to get her in trouble."

"Oh, just student magic. It should be no problem to dispel it," Professor Snape declared confidently. Over the next few hours, Professor Snape ate those words. It took him much longer than it should have to undo that spell.

* * *

**Slytherin common room**

Much to her embarrassment, Daphne explained what happened to her sister and her friend Draco Malfoy.

Draco listened and laughed. "Hmm, let me get this straight, you were going to do it with Potter right there in the hallway and he actually said no?"

"Pansy too," Daphne nodded.

"Ha, ha, good!" Draco said.

"Good?" Daphne shot Draco a quizzical look.

"That gives me an excuse to dump her," Draco said. "With Potter no less." He shuddered at the thought of it. "And Potter actually said no. Just maybe Potter and Weasley are more than just friends."

"You pig! You are assuming he is gay just because he didn't want to sleep with my sister?" Astoria snickered.

"Yeah. If it were me, she wanted, it would have been a definite yes," Draco declared. "I wouldn't have given her time to change her mind."

"Oh," Daphne gasped and covered her mouth. "Thank Merlin, it wasn't you I put the spell on."

"There are lots of reasons he might have said no. Maybe doing it in the hallway is a tad too sleezy for him, or maybe he isn't attracted to my sister," Astoria suggested.

"Impossible, unless he is gay," Draco declared.

"Or maybe he has a girlfriend he doesn't wish to cheat on," Astoria suggested.

"No, if he already had a girlfriend, he would already have a date for that dinner party," Daphne said.

"Ok point taken. Or just maybe, unlike Draco here, he just might be a decent guy," Astoria said.

"I didn't even consider that one," Daphne looked at her sister. She knew Harry was turned on. The physical reaction was unmistakable, so there must be another reason. She could rule out the already existing girlfriend because that would make getting a date, a total nonissue, just take her. Just maybe the spell Harry used against her truly was just as much of a mistake as the one she used on him.

"Or maybe he is an idiot," Draco retorted.

After a frustrating afternoon of helping Potter remove that spell, Professor Snape returned to the Slytherin common room to find the students chatting. "Miss Greengrass, my office now," Professor Snape commanded.

"Gee, I wonder what this could possibly be about." Draco smirked at Daphne. "Good luck!" He watched Daphne leave with Professor Snape, then he whispered to Astoria, "Think you could talk your sister into using that spell on me?"

"A beauty charm? Like you need it," Astoria laughed.

* * *

**Professor Snape's office**

Professor Snape cast privacy wards around his office. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"May I ask what this is about?" Daphne hoped this was about something other then Potter, but she couldn't think of anything else.

"Don't play dumb. I should have been going over assignments and preparing the next lesson, but instead I wasted my entire afternoon cleaning up your mess. What spell did you use?" Professor Snape paused for only a fraction of a second before clarifying, "On Mr. Potter I mean."

"Oh, it was… a beauty charm," Daphne admitted.

"I have never seen a beauty charm work like that," Professor Snape said. Daphne tried to get a few words in, but Professor Snape kept talking. "I should have you expelled for this."

"That would be fine. I was planning to ask my dad if I could transfer to another school anyway. Now he won't have a choice." Daphne smiled. She tried to sound more confident then she actually felt. Her smile faded as she realized how disappointed her dad would be if that happened.

"However, I am not going to do that, and do you know why? Because Mr. Potter specifically said that he didn't want to get you in trouble."

"He actually said that?" Daphne asked. Her shoulders slumped down, and her heart sank.

"Yes, he did, and you should feel guilty. What kind of stupid prank were you trying to pull? What was this? Revenge? Getting even with him?"

"No! It wasn't like that."

"Good! You might want to take a moment to reflect that if it weren't for Mr. Potter, you would probably be dead right now."

"What? He was the reason I…" Daphne exclaimed.

"And after that, he also used a spell to stop you from completely bleeding to death," Professor Snape interrupted her.

"Oh, I really wasn't trying to hurt Potter." She explained everything about the dinner party and her ploy was nothing more then an attempt to boost his confidence so he could get a date for a dinner party for tomorrow night. "But the spell worked, a bit too well. I made a total fool out of myself."

"You weren't the only one."

"I know." Daphne chuckled at the memory of Pansy starting to strip, but that didn't last. She realized Pansy would blame her for this, especially after Draco dumps her because of it.

"I see nothing funny about this." Professor Snape wished he could bleach that image of Professor McGonagal trying to kiss Harry from his mind. "The important thing here is we find out what is going on with your magic."

Much to Daphne's protest, Professor Snape escorted Daphne straight down to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey ran some tests and figured out what went wrong. "You contracted a very rare blood born curse. Probably from the blood transfusion."

"That can't be. My spell worked… It was just way too strong," Daphne exclaimed.

"Yes, exactly. Your magic will be either way too strong or nearly non-existent," Madam Pomfrey explained. "If you are trying to light a camp fire, you will either not have enough flame to light a cigar or you will burn down everything within about a 10-mile radius."

Tears formed in Daphne's eyes. She realized this would make her nearly useless as a witch. Casting any spells would be far too dangerous to risk it or utterly useless. She might as well leave Hogwarts and give up magic.

She also knew she owed Harry an apology. Given how she reacted when he tried to apologize to her, she dreaded what his response would be.

* * *

Author's notes:

I would like to thank everyone who favorites, followed and – or reviewed this story. This story even got added to another community, thanks for that too. I would also like to thank CSGT for his help with this story. I would like to thank jettmanas for helping with proofreading the first two chapters.


	4. An Appology

By the time Daphne returned to the common room, Pansy joined Draco and Astoria. Apparently, Draco hadn't dumped Pansy yet because Pansy was laughing. "Yeah, we should spread this rumor that Potter and Weasley are gay," Pansy said.

"Nobody is going to believe that. Weasley so clearly has a girlfriend." Astoria rolled her eyes.

"Oh, then maybe it is a one-sided crush." Draco laughed.

"Draco, could I talk to you alone for a sec," Daphne requested.

Draco followed her down a hallway. He could tell she had been crying because her face was all flush and red, but he chose to ignore it. "What do you want?"

"I don't think it is a good idea for you to start trouble with Potter," Daphne said.

"Why is that?" Draco put his hand on his hip and glared at her.

"So far, Potter hasn't brought any charges against you, but he still could, and what you did to him is punishable by a one-way trip to Azkaban."

"Ha, ha, ha!" Draco laughed. "Actually, father says…" Then he paused and realized he was about to say too much. "Don't worry your pretty little head about things that are never going to happen."

Daphne found that very condescending. She found his lack of concern over a possible life sentence in Azkaban surprising. "What? Your father can't fix everything."

Draco laughed with a bit of a smirk before returning to Pansy and Astoria.

Later that evening, Daphne tossed and turned in bed trying to sleep, but all she could think about was that damn curse and how disappointed her father would be when he found out about it and the dreaded thought of how Potter would react when she tried to apologize to him.

The next morning, she looked in the mirror feeling disappointed in her own reflection. It was obvious she was overtired and had been crying. Ordinarily she would use a beauty charm to cover this up, but after what happened with Harry, she wouldn't risk it. Instead, she did her best to wash up and apply just a touch of makeup.

Daphne arrived earlier then usual at the Great Hall. She lingered around the door and waited for Harry to show up. As much as she dreaded this, she was going to apologize. Accompanied by his best friends Hermione and Ron, Harry finally approached. "Can we talk?" Daphne requested.

"Sure." Harry nodded.

"What do you want?" Hermione folded her arms across her chest.

"I just wanted to apologize," Daphne said. "It really was a mistake. I have used beauty charms plenty of times, but it never worked like that before. I don't know what went wrong." She looked down at the floor. Of course, she knew why, but this was something she wasn't even willing to tell her friends. She certainly wasn't going to tell three Gryffindors.

"It is fine, really," Harry said.

"It is?" Daphne looked up at him again with a look of disbelief and wondered if she needed to get her hearing checked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no reason for you to pretend to be a nice girl." Harry echoed what Daphne told him not so long ago.

Daphne slumped down her shoulders and looked down at the floor beneath her feet. She turned around and walked away from the dining hall.

"Where is she going?" Hermione watched Daphne leave.

"Who cares! Let's go eat." Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and they walked up the stairs. Neither realized Harry wasn't following them. Instead, he followed Daphne.

"Should have saw that coming. I guess I deserved that," she muttered under her breath as she continued down the hall.

"I am sorry, Daphne," Harry said. In thinking about it, Harry realized that the spell she used on him certainly caused some cringeworthy events, but it didn't really hurt him the way his spell hurt her and more importantly, she already proved she was a nice girl with her choice to stop Draco from using the torture curse against him. "I shouldn't have said that."

Daphne turned around and stared at him with a very wide-eyed expression. The little hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

"I didn't mean it. I am not mad at you."

"You're not?" Daphne began to relax just a little bit. He didn't have a wand drawn or otherwise appear to be threatening in any way.

"How could I be? Thanks to your little spell, I got to kiss the prettiest girl in our class."

"That is great! That is all I was trying to do. Help you get a date for that dinner party."

"Actually, I didn't get a date."

"What about that pretty girl you kissed?"

"I am pretty sure you are still not willing to go out with me."

"No, not me. The other girl you kissed."

"There was no other girl. Well there were other girls that wanted to jump me, but you were the only one I kissed."

"But that can't be. You turned me down flat. Don't get me wrong. I am grateful that you didn't let me 'jump' you, but still, it feels like a rejection."

"Do you know why I turned you down?"

"No. Why?

"Because, at first, I thought you and Pansy were just doing some kind of cruel joke."

"Oh, no, not at all."

"I know that now. Something definitely went wrong with your spell."

"Yes, exactly. Let me explain. Normally, the results of a beauty charm are pretty minimal at best, but a feeling of confidence is real. That is why, at first, I pretended the spell worked better than it really did. That is all I was trying to do," Daphne admitted. "But then something went wrong and the spell really worked way too well and –"

"I understand." Harry laughed. "We are more alike then I thought. I tricked Ron into thinking I gave him a few drops of the liquid luck potion just before his Quidditch tryouts. He played his best game ever and even got a new girlfriend after. Little does he know, he did it all on his own. No luck potion involved."

"I won't tell him." She breathed a sigh of relief. She wondered if that was what Harry intended to do with her, simply give a placebo. If so, that would be an improvement over the poison she was expecting. "I will tell you what. If I don't get expelled today, I will go with you to that dinner party tonight."

"What made you change your mind?"

"I am just starting to realize you are a nice guy," Daphne said. Of course, this was a half-truth. With her powers being messed up in a very dangerous way, she feared she would never get that chance to get Potter to clear her father and if she didn't, there would be hell to pay at home.

"Thanks!" Harry smiled. "Let's go get some breakfast."

* * *

They returned together to the great hall. Daphne joined her sister at the Slytherin table and Harry joined his friends at the Gryffindor table.

Dumbledore took the podium and commanded silence from the entire room. "The ministry wanted this kept quiet, but I think all of you have a right to know. The Dark Lord's army has assaulted Azkaban. The prison itself has been reduced to rubble and all prisoners have escaped. Worst of all, the dementors have joined the Dark Lord's forces and increased in numbers. For everyone's safety, all Hogsmeade weekends are cancelled until further notice."

"Still think I need to worry about being sent to Azkaban?" Draco whispered to Daphne. "I told you so."

She looked him in the eye and couldn't ignore that smug look on his face. "Yooouuu…. You knew?" She stumbled on her words.

"If you know what is good for you, you will keep your mouth shut," Draco said.

Daphne couldn't believe Draco just threatened her. She used to believe Draco incapable of hurting anyone, but after what he did to Harry, now she wasn't so sure. She feared he might use the torture curse on her too if she pissed him off. She also couldn't ignore the fact that he knew this was going to happen and he didn't warn anyone. His father told him. For this, that confirmed a notion she was previously unwilling to believe that Draco's father must be a death eater. That was the only plausible explanation for why he would have had advance notice of that attack.

* * *

After breakfast, Madame Pomfrey and Professor Snape explained Daphne's situation to Dumbledore. "Overpowered magic, you say? The timing of this couldn't be better." Dumbledore stroke his beard.

Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey exchanged a confused look.

"What?" Daphne looked up at Dumbledore confused. She was so sure she would be sent away and forbidden to do any magic.

Harry wanted to talk to Dumbledore about the morning announcement, so he approached his office. He noticed the door was open just a crack and he heard them talking.

"Hmm, tell me, Miss Greengrass, are you familiar with the Patronus charm?" Dumbledore asked Daphne.

"I heard of it," Daphne shrugged. "Never cast it before. Don't even know how."

"You are going to have to learn it and fast," Dumbledore said, undeterred from his plan.

"You want her to use the Patronus charm?" Professor Snape questioned. "Clearly, she shouldn't be using magic anymore of any kind. Do you realize how long it took to undo the spell she used on Mr. Potter?"

"That spell is harmless, unless you are a dementor," Dumbledore explained. "If there is even a chance, her overpowered spell will do more than just stop them temporarily, it is a chance I am willing to take."

"Excuse me." Harry made his way into the office. "I would be happy to teach Daphne the Patronus charm. I already taught it to so many other students last year."

"What if the extreme increased power makes it harmful to more than just dementors?" Professor Snape asked.

"Do you have a better idea?" Dumbledore asked.

After a brief moment of thought, Professor Snape failed to come up with any better ideas.

"Didn't think so," Dumbledore said. "Thank you, Mr. Potter, but you have your own classes to get to." Then he turned to Professor Snape. "See that Miss Greengrass is excused from all classes today."

Daphne's sister Astoria waited outside in the hallway. "Are you being expelled?" she asked her sister.

"No! Dumbledore is going to teach me the Patronus charm." Daphne breathed a sigh of relief.

Dumbledore escorted Daphne outside to the courtyard. He gave her a demonstration of how to use the Patronus charm. "First focus very hard on a very happy memory," Dumbledore began.

"Oh," Daphne groaned. Her gaze drifted downward.

"Are you alright?" Dumbledore asked.

"Great!" Daphne lied and forced a cheesy grin.

"Then wave your wand like this," he waved his wand. "Expecto Patronum." Ribbons of energy flowed from his wand and apparently took on the physical form of a phoenix.

"Wow!" Daphne's jaw dropped. She just hoped it would work and her patron would be just as pretty. She forced a smile and did her best to copy Dumbledore's movements with the wand. "Expecto Patronum." After a few moments, nothing happened. She frowned in frustration. "Nothing."

"Don't worry. I didn't get it my first time either. Focus harder on that happy memory," Dumbledore urged her to try again.

Daphne tried again and still nothing. "This isn't working. I think the curse is interfering with my magic," she lied.

"I think you are just not concentrating hard enough on that happy memory. Try a different memory. The Yule Ball? That was a highlight for many," Dumbledore suggested.

"I didn't go," Daphne admitted. "That curse also has the potential for underpowered magic. Maybe that is what is happening."

"No, if that were the case, we would have at least seen a spark, a firefly, something," Dumbledore disagreed.

They spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get that spell to work, but nothing worked. Daphne knew why, but she insisted on blaming it on the blood borne curse.

Daphne returned to the Slytherin common room feeling like a complete failure. She found out her dad tried to contact her, so of course, she used the fireplace phone to return his call. She at least had a date planned with Harry tonight and would have a chance to try to come through for him. She hoped that would be good enough, but she doubted it. "Hi, dad." Daphne looked down at the fireplace and watched the image of her dad in the flames.

"Let's see it," Cyrus requested.

"See what?" Daphne asked.

"Your patronus, of course," Cyrus rubbed his hands together.

Daphne frowned thinking of her sister and mentally cursing her for being so quick to tell dad about that. "I couldn't get the spell to work," Daphne admitted half-heartedly. "I don't know why."

"I am so disappointed in you." The fire sparked up in an angry red burst, thus ending the call.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank CSGT for his help with this story. I would also like to thank everyone who favorites, followed, and – or reviewed this story.


	5. When Hell Freezes Over

Despite that nagging feeling that this would be a terrible evening where Harry would just ignore her just like he did his date with Parvati at the yule ball, Daphne met Harry just outside the door where the Slughorn dinner party was going to be held.

Daphne was all dressed up. Her hair was mostly brushed off to one side and held back with a silver hair clip. She wore an off the shoulder white top with flutter sleeves, which contrasted nicely with her long black skirt.

"I wasn't sure you would show up." Harry briefly looked her over. He couldn't help admiring her form, but it was mostly her pretty face that kept his attention. He was glad she wasn't wearing her Slytherin robes. "You look amazing."

"Thank you," Daphne said. Her sister Astoria walked in with Blaise.

"Daphne?" Blaise questioned. "Somebody should check the weather report in hell."

"Why?" Astoria asked.

"Because hell has officially frozen over. The ice princess is out on a date," Blaise said. "Nott is going to be so jealous."

"No reason to make a big deal about this." Daphne gritted her teeth. She was already starting to regret agreeing to this.

"It is your first date. Of course, it is a big deal," Astoria said.

Harry couldn't help but to crack a smile at being Daphne's first date. He could tell Daphne was annoyed at them making a big deal out of this, but something in Astoria's delivery sounded caring, not intentionally patronizing.

"Can we talk about something else please," Daphne requested.

"Sure, how did it go with Dumbledore?" Astoria asked. Much to Daphne's chagrin, her sister managed to come up with a topic she wanted to talk about even less.

"I have been wondering that myself." Harry smiled at Daphne.

"I don't want to talk about it," Daphne admitted.

"That bad?" Astoria said.

"I would be happy to teach you that spell," Harry volunteered. "I taught it to many students last year."

"No, that is ok." Daphne waved him off. She did her best to hide it, but she felt a sense of annoyance at not having been included in Dumbledore's army last year, which of course, she heard all about from other students only after the fact. On the flipside though, she also realized it would have been humiliating to have been the only one in Harry's class who couldn't perform the spell. "I don't even want to think about that spell anymore, much less try to cast it. I wish Dumbledore would just back down."

* * *

Professor Slughorn ushered the group in. They all took seats at a very large oval table. Hermione attended with Neville and Ginny with Dean.

"Ron will be sorry he missed this," Ginny said as she eyed the wonderful feast before them. Hermione nodded in agreement.

"I hope all of you brought your appetites. Minus five points for whomever doesn't clean their plates," Professor Slughorn said.

Daphne's eyes went wide, then she looked at Harry and tapped him on the arm. "He is kidding right?" She asked him in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Ha, ha," Professor Slughorn laughed. "Of course, I am kidding. Just relax and have a good time tonight. Are you two together?" He pointed between Harry and Daphne.

"Yes," Harry and Daphne both nodded, then Harry added, "She is my date tonight."

"Ok, then five points for Gryffindor and Slytherin for breaking house rivalries," Slughorn said.

Professor Slughorn went around the table asking about their parents. As Hermione went on about her father the muggle dentist, Daphne thought a great deal about what she would say about her father. She needed it to make a good impression on Harry, but she couldn't quite see how. She could call her father retired, but that would be a lie. He never worked in the first place. He was born rich and his money always worked for him, never the other way around. She could try to talk about the charity work he did to help those less fortunate, but the truth was all he did was sign the checks while the house elves did all the actual work. Then she realized her turn would never come because Professor Slughorn was only interested in the students he invited here. He gave their dates very little attention.

When Harry's turn came, Blaise spoke up. "We all know the story of Harry's parents. What I want to hear about is how he landed a date with the ice princess."

If looks could kill, Blaise would be dead right now. Daphne wanted to reach across the table and strangle him, but she did her best to maintain her composure.

Astoria couldn't help herself but to burst out laughing. Daphne had already told her about that beauty charm and how she and Pansy basically threw themselves at Harry. "This ought to be good," Astoria chuckled.

"I am guessing a certain luck potion was involved?" Blaise said in a questioning tone.

"It feels like luck to get a date with the prettiest girl at this school, but it wasn't," Harry said with a restrained smile. He could take offense to Blaise thinking as Pansy did, that he would need a luck potion to get a date, but he correctly thought that it had more to do with Daphne's ice princess reputation, never dates anyone, that Blaise questioned. Besides, he still wished to make a good impression on Daphne, so paying her a compliment took priority.

Blaise nodded in agreement at Harry's comment about Daphne's appearance. "Second prettiest actually." He put his arm around Astoria implying she was his first choice. "So, tell us all about it." Blaise tried to goad Harry into talking.

"I… I will let Daphne take this question if she so chooses to," Harry said.

"No comment," Daphne said quickly, then as she thought about it, she realized she should have talked Harry up to her friends and fed his ego.

"Good, because I really don't want to hear about how you tricked Harry into dating you." Ginny's eyes began to water as she briefly glared at Daphne. Then she looked down at her plate of barely eaten food and lost her appetite. Even though she brought Dean with her, she wasn't really that into him. Harry was the one she wanted, so she couldn't help but to feel jealous of Daphne.

"Excuse me, what?" Daphne raised her voice.

"Daphne, don't. She isn't worth it," Astoria said, then she not so quietly whispered to Blaise, "Besides, she is just jealous."

"Obviously." Blaise just nodded.

Harry and Ginny were both going to say something but Professor Slughorn interrupted. "Ok, that is quite enough of that." He began to regret requesting they all bring dates. This wasn't part of his plan.

* * *

When the party ended Harry and Daphne talked while he escorted her back to the entranceway of Slytherin. "I had a nice time." Daphne forced a cheesy grin.

"No, you didn't. Don't lie. You barely touched your dinner. You were ticked off when Zabini and his girlfriend made such a big deal about our date. " Harry didn't know Astoria at all and didn't realize she was Daphne's sister.

"His date was my sister." Daphne folded her arms.

"Oh," Harry said. "Then there was Ginny. I am not at all pleased with her for talking to you that way."

"Thanks! There was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Of course." Harry let out a sigh. He knew Daphne wasn't truly interested in dating him and the only reason she was even with him tonight was because she wanted a chance to clear her father's name. "Go ahead."

"This isn't easy to say." She looked around to make sure other students weren't around or eavesdropping. "That day in the bathroom… If I had known then what I know now, I never would have been there in the first place."

"Obviously not. I am still very sorry about that." Harry thought that was purely because of how badly she got hurt from it. He didn't realize it was because she learned something about Draco she didn't like.

"I know. Thanks… You mentioned something about Draco hexing someone. What was that about?" Daphne asked.

"I thought you wanted to talk about your father. I can't prove it, but I am pretty sure Malfoy hexed Katie Bell into delivering a poisoned necklace to Dumbledore… Why?"

"When I first read the article about my father, I assumed the entire story was rubbish, but I only recently found out part of it was very true," Daphne said.

"Wait! Are you saying you now know your father is a Death Eater?" Harry asked.

"Oh, no, that is not what I meant. I just mean I found out for fact one of the other ones you named actually is one," Daphne said.

"Really? Which one?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Malfoy."

"Yes, Malfoy. Draco's father is definitely a death eater. If my father can help get Lucius Malfoy prosecuted, would that be enough for you to realize you are wrong about him?"

"Yes, it would." Harry seriously doubted a death eater would actually out a fellow death eater, so if Daphne's father actually were to do that, it would be enough proof of his innocence. He truly doubted that it would ever happen though. It would be more likely to see hell freezing over. "See what your father says when you suggest that to him." He also wished he would get to kiss Daphne goodnight, but he doubted that would happen either.

* * *

They soon parted with Harry returning to Gryffindor and Daphne returning to Slytherin. Daphne contacted her father again. "Did you learn the spell?" was the first words out of her father's mouth.

"No," Daphne admitted sheepishly.

"Then what are you contacting me for?" Cyrus demanded to know.

"I found a way to convince Potter to clear you," Daphne declared.

"Even better. I knew I could count on you. How?"

"I am sure most of the wizards Potter accused were innocent, but one of them was actually guilty. Help gather real evidence against him and get him prosecuted," Daphne explained.

"None of them were guilty," Cyrus insisted. "If you think I am going to accuse someone innocent, just to clear myself- "

"Lucius Malfoy is not innocent, I assure you," Daphne said.

"Don't go spreading that ridiculous lie," Cyrus insisted.

"But it is true… Draco knew about that death eater's attack on Azkaban before it happened. His father told him. How else could he know? When I questioned Draco on it, he told me I-"

"Enough. I don't want to hear it. I am sure there is a logical explanation. Don't tell Potter this. There is no way I am going to do that," Cyrus said.

"It is too late. I already did," Daphne admitted.

Cyrus hung his head down in shame. "How disappointing. Looks like I will have to go a few rounds with the old punching bag."

"No, please, dad, don't. I will fix it. Please don't take your frustrations out on that po-" Daphne pleaded and stopped talking after the image of her father sparked up and disappeared.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank CSGT for his help with this fic. I would also like to thank everyone who favorites, followed and or reviewed this story.

I borrowed the idea that going to a Slughorn party with a date that goes against house rivalries, earns a few points in the house cup competition from Brockster550, with permission. He used the idea in his fic An Unlikely Date. That is a very good story where Harry is dating Astoria. For those interested, that story can easily be found in my favorites list.


	6. Esired

Astoria accompanied Daphne on their way to Dumbledore's office. "Say no to Dumbledore. Tell him you can't and won't do that spell," Astoria told her sister in an almost scolding voice.

"It isn't fair. He shouldn't be making me do this," Daphne sighed.

"He can't make you. You really need to stand up for yourself. Nobody is going to do it for you," Astoria said.

"Here goes nothing," Daphne gulped as she approached the partly cracked open door of Dumbledore's office. She heard Harry's voice. "Perfect," she muttered to herself as she closed her eyes, wishing he wasn't there.

"Listen," Harry explained to Dumbledore. "I trained so many fellow students on how to do the Patronus charm last year. Daphne made it clear she doesn't want to do the spell."

"Ok, I was wrong," Astoria whispered to her sister. She was surprised to see that Harry of all people was actually standing up for her. "I am starting to see why Romilda likes him." Of course, she kept her voice down.

"Don't tell me you are going to start dating him," Daphne snapped back at Astoria.

"Oh, no," Astoria assured her sister. She couldn't tell if Daphne was disgusted or jealous at the thought of it. Most likely, it was a little bit of both. Both girls quieted down when Dumbledore began to speak again.

"At best, all any of those students you taught last year will be able to do is hold them back. I suspect, thanks to Miss Greengrass's condition, she will be able to do so much more than that," Dumbledore said matter-of-factly.

"It is unfair to make her do it, if she doesn't want to," Harry said.

"Life is not fair," Dumbledore retorted. "I thought you knew that by now."

Daphne took a deep breath and at first no words came out. She just shook, suffering from her own nerves, but then she decided her sister was right. She had to tell Dumbledore no. She finally got up the nerve to walk in the room. "I can't and won't do the spell. If you want to expel me because of that…. Fine, but my answer is still no," Daphne declared.

At the sound of Daphne's voice, Harry suddenly turned around and stared at her. He wanted to ask her if she had talked to her father yet and if so, how did it go, but Dumbledore spoke first.

"What do you mean can't?" Dumbledore crossed his arms. "It just takes practice."

"No. I am done. I don't want to talk about it, much less think about it," Daphne insisted.

"It is really not that difficult a spell. You just wave your wand." Dumbledore waved his wand. "Focus on your happiest memories…"

Daphne folded her arms and looked down at the floor. Her eyes began to gloss over with just a hint of tears.

Dumbledore conjured his own Patronus. "See, it isn't very difficult."

"Oh!" Harry said as he thought about it. He understood why Daphne can't do this particular spell. "I think I know what the problem is… I would like to take a crack at teaching her the spell myself."

"I said no," Daphne reminded Harry.

"Trust me!" Harry turned to Daphne. "I will make a deal with you. You let me teach you this spell and I will talk to that reporter about clearing your father."

Harry and Dumbledore both watched Daphne for a few moments. They expected a reaction, but she didn't give one at all, not even the slightest change in expression.

"Well?" Dumbledore tapped his foot against the floor.

"Is that for cooperating on trying to learn it, or do I actually need to be able to do the spell?" Daphne asked. She knew there was no point in saying yes if she had to perform the spell. That was simply never going to happen.

"I am hoping you getting what you want will be a happy enough memory so you can do the spell. In no way do I believe your father is innocent, but with the fate of…" Harry began to explain.

"Yeah and when that doesn't work?" Astoria interrupted.

"Don't you mean if," Harry and Dumbledore both asked at the same time.

"No, when. I guarantee you the only reason she is trying to get you to clear dad is because it is what HE wants. If pleasing dad was enough to please her, she would already be able to cast the spell," Astoria declared. Daphne glared at her sister and wished she would shut up.

"Ok, no deal. The only reason I would clear your father without proof of his innocence is to give you the happy memory you need to make the spell work. Sorry," Harry explained sincerely. He briefly took his eyes off Daphne. He didn't want to see the disappointed look in her eyes that he imagined would be there. Much to his initial surprise, he couldn't help but to notice a slightly angry glare in his direction from Dumbledore. After thinking about it, Harry realized he had Daphne close to changing her mind, so obviously Dumbledore didn't like him backing out of it, but still Harry knew he was doing the right thing.

"That is quite enough of that rebellious attitude. You either let me teach you that spell or you can let Harry do it," Dumbledore demanded.

"I thought I already said no. The only reason I even considered changing my mind was…" Daphne began.

Astoria saw an opportunity she wasn't going to pass up. "Let me handle this." Astoria interrupted, then smiled at Dumbledore in an almost creepy way. She turned to address her sister. "You go do whatever you want, and I will spend the day ALONE WITH HARRY while he teaches me the spell. Then I will teach it to you later. Sound good?" She put her arm around Harry.

Harry gave Astoria the oddest look. He was actually going to say something, but Daphne spoke first.

"You alone with Potter! No way!" Daphne was the first to speak.

At first Dumbledore was going to say no, but after seeing Daphne protest, he changed his mind. "I think that is an excellent idea." He nodded and stroked his beard.

"It is?" Harry questioned with a bit of a frown.

"If me being alone with Harry is a problem for you, then you are more than welcome to join us." Astoria smirked at her sister.

"Definitely!" A smile spread across Harry's face as he nodded in agreement. He knew Astoria just did a pretty good job manipulating her own sister, but he would forgive her this time because what she was doing was best for everyone, including Daphne.

"Fine!" Daphne begrudgingly agreed to go. She knew she was being manipulated, but that didn't matter. There was no way she would leave Astoria alone with Harry.

"The three of you will be excused from all classes today," Dumbledore declared before they left.

* * *

Daphne just rolled her eyes as she noticed the big smile on her sister's face. She wasn't sure if Astoria just did that to get out of class, or if she wanted to make time with Harry.

"How did it go with your father?" Harry finally got the chance to ask what he wanted to know.

"Terrible. He didn't believe me, and he is probably right. I think I jumped to a wrong conclusion on something Draco said." Daphne forced a grin and hoped Harry would drop the subject.

"What exactly did Malfoy say anyway?" Harry asked.

"Um!" Daphne's face went slightly flush as she contemplated what to say. "I don't want to get you any angrier at Draco then you already are, so please don't ask for details," she requested. "But I will tell you."

"Alright, fair enough." Harry nodded.

"After Dumbledore's announcement the other day, Draco reacted like he already knew about it. Like he had advanced knowledge of it. I flat-out accused him," Daphne began.

"And he denied it of course," Harry guessed with a bit of a snicker. "Even though you were probably right."

Daphne gave a nervous chuckle. "Actually, he warned me to keep my mouth shut, if I knew what is 'good' for me."

"He actually threatened you!" Harry raised his voice and clenched his fist.

"Nice job not making him angrier at Draco," Astoria said in a tone just slightly above a whisper.

"Hey, it didn't occur to me that he would care about that," Daphne retorted.

"Of course, I care about that," Harry said. "I will kick his ass."

"Please don't. I don't want to get caught in the middle of another fight between the two of you," Daphne said. She couldn't help it but to appreciate the thought of it though.

"Besides, we have more important things to do. You are supposed to be teaching us a spell, remember?" Astoria reminded Harry.

"Yeah, what is the plan for that?" Daphne asked reluctantly. She doubted she would ever be able to cast that spell.

"Simple." Harry looked Daphne in the eye. "I want you to take the luck potion, go off with your sister and have what will probably be the best day of your life. Then we will meet up again tonight and try the spell again. I believe it will work."

"You are not going to stay with us today?" Daphne asked.

"No, for obvious reasons. You need to have the best day of your life." Harry sighed. As much as he didn't like it, he was pretty sure that the less she saw of himself, the better that would be for her. "If you two ladies will excuse me, I left the potion back in my room. I will be as quick as I can. Meet me in the courtyard."

As Harry left, Astoria and Daphne made their way to the courtyard. "I don't think I want to take that potion," Daphne told her sister.

"Why not?" Astoria asked.

"Maybe I am just being paranoid, but I really doubt Potter is going to give me his luck potion," Daphne said. "It will probably be poison."

"You are right. You are being paranoid. Potter wouldn't do that, and Dumbledore wouldn't stand for it," Astoria said.

"Dumbledore! Oh, please. How many times do I have to tell you?" Daphne scoffed at that. "I don't trust Dumbledore either."

"Oh, here we go again. The way Dumbledore handled your first house cup competition wasn't fair. I agree." Astoria rolled her eyes. "But I am sure if Potter actually killed someone…"

"Dumbledore would just look the other way. He will always do what is right for Potter," Daphne interrupted.

"Really, and was it right for Potter to be forced to compete in the Triwizard Tournament?" Astoria questioned.

"No, I suppose not," Daphne admitted reluctantly. "But that is not the point."

"Oh, then do tell. What is the point?" Astoria asked.

"Dumbledore sees all of Slytherin as just a bunch of future criminals and death eaters, so if one of us gets hurt or killed, he is just going to look the other way," Daphne said.

"You are forgetting one thing. Dumbledore actually NEEDS you this time and Harry actually likes you. You are blind if you don't see it," Astoria said. "So no, he isn't going to poison you."

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry went to his room and grabbed the potion. On his way back out, he encountered Hermione and Ginny in the hallway. "Ginny," Harry called out.

"Yes," Ginny turned and smiled at Harry. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Next time you see Daphne Greengrass, I want you to apologize to her for the way you acted at dinner. That was totally uncalled for," Harry requested.

"No way," Ginny scoffed just before leaving.

"Speaking of apologies, I would like to apologize to you." Hermione blushed.

"For what?" Harry couldn't think of anything Hermione did wrong that would require an apology.

"You are going to make me say it, aren't you?" Hermione asked sheepishly.

"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about," Harry answered honestly.

"That day in the library. I don't know what came over me," Hermione admitted.

"Oh, that," Harry chuckled. "Daphne used a spell on me which made you and every other girl, even Professor McGonagall, really want me! So, that wasn't your fault."

"Oh, so that is what Greengrass was talking about the other day," Hermione asked. Then she raised her voice. "I will have to teach that little witch a lesson."

"Hermione, please! Give her a break. It was an accident. It was only a beauty charm. She just wanted to help me get a date," Harry pleaded.

"A beauty charm? Really? No, that was way more than just a beauty charm," Hermione insisted. "You were completely irresistible."

"Apparently, Daphne is prone to overpowered magic. Which is why Dumbledore wants me to teach her the Patronus charm," Harry said. "He is hoping for a way overpowered version that can do more than just keep dementors at bay."

"No problem at all. You teach her the spell," Hermione said confidently. "Then I will give that little witch a piece of my mind!"

"Please don't start any trouble with Daphne," Harry pleaded.

"Why not? She deserves it after what she pulled on you," Hermione insisted.

"No, she doesn't. She apologized for that already. She feels bad enough as is," Harry said. "The last thing she needs right now is someone trying to lay a guilt trip on her. So please, if you don't have anything nice to say to her, just don't say anything at all. You will just make my job that much harder." Many thoughts raced through his head. "I don't think I am going to be able to do this."

"Oh, no way! You already taught this spell to so many people last year. You won't have any problem teaching her too. You are a great teacher." Hermione gave him a hug.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but with Daphne it will be different. She really doesn't have any extremely happy memories to recall. That is why even Dumbledore couldn't teach her the spell," Harry said. "I am the wrong person for this. I need her to have a good memory and being around me, all she is going to remember is that day I almost killed her."

"Ah," Hermione stared at him for the longest moment. She looked beyond his glasses at his watery eyes. Her own eyes began to water too. She gave him a hug. "Try telling her about some of the things you remember just before you cast the spell. Maybe you will trigger a memory for her, something positive that she might have forgotten. If that doesn't work, try taking her to the Mirror of Erised."

Harry smiled as he remembered standing in front of that mirror and seeing himself with his loving parents. Even just thinking about that put a smile on his face. He wondered what Daphne would see when she looked in the mirror. "That just might be a better idea then what I was going to try," Harry said.

"And what would that be?" Hermione asked.

"Give her my luck potion and let her go have the best day ever, then try the spell again tonight," Harry said. "But there is just one problem with that."

"What is that?" Hermione asked.

"She trusts me about as far as she could throw me, without using magic," Harry said.

"What does trust got to do with it?" Hermione asked.

"If Malfoy gave you a potion, would you drink it?" Harry asked her.

"Are you crazy? Of course not!" Hermione shook her head vigorously side to side.

"No matter what she says, I suspect that is how Daphne feels toward me. She won't take the potion voluntarily and shoving it down her throat is simply not an option," Harry explained.

"You will get through to her," Hermione assured him with another hug.

* * *

Harry joined the girls in the courtyard. "I ran into a friend of mine and she gave me a suggestion I think is a really good idea. Follow me, ladies," Harry said. The two sisters followed Harry to the mirror of Erised.

"Ok, take a good look in the mirror," Harry instructed them.

Astoria was the first to look. She raised a brow as she watched the image. Then she turned to Harry. "You pervert! Why are you showing us this?" She looked back at the mirror and couldn't help it but to smile.

When Harry looked in the mirror, Daphne was all over him. He could tell he enjoyed that snogging session with her just a bit too much. "Um!" Harry loosened the collar of his robes. "Sorry to say, but the mirror just shows… Oh god! Your own desires… So, you are the pervert if that is what you are seeing." His eyes opened wider and remained glued to the mirror.

"And what are you seeing?" Astoria asked Harry without taking her eyes off the mirror.

"Oh… It doesn't matter what I am seeing. Daphne, what are you seeing?"

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank everyone who favorites/follows and – or reviewed this story. I would also like to thank CSGT for his help with this story.


	7. Irony of Family

"Are you sure this mirror shows our desires?" Daphne questioned. She watched dad loading up a moving van. She had no desire to move out of her home and even if she did, wouldn't it be more about the destination, where she was going? Nobody fantasizes about the moving process itself, so to her, this simply didn't make sense.

"Oh, yes! I am sure!" Astoria nodded as her eyes remained glued to the mirror. She fanned herself as she watched.

"This isn't what I want," Daphne said. A wide smile spread across the face of the image she saw of herself in the mirror. Her mirror image winked at her, which made Daphne feel uneasy. "What the? Can they actually hear us?"

"I don't know… I don't think so," Harry answered. He continued to watch himself snogging with Daphne. His father James stood by with Lily in his arms. Sirius Black joined them. Everyone was all smiles except for the real Harry. This only served as a reminder of the loss of his family and an opportunity that would never come again. He realized he just might have made a mistake bringing Daphne here. "You didn't answer my question. What are you actually seeing?"

Daphne watched herself use an apparate spell to appear in her family's dining room. "Oh, the meaning of that was clear." Daphne sighed. "My magic works normally, the way it is supposed to. I successfully apparated into my family's dining room. Looks like we are set for a holiday party." She turned to Astoria. "You are all dressed up. You look so pretty."

"That is funny. The way I am seeing it I am…. Ah! Never mind." Astoria chuckled and her cheeks turned a deep shade of rosy pink. In her fantasy she and the sexy guys she was with all wore minimal clothing. She had to accept that Harry was right. She was a pervert.

"Mom is serving all our favorites. Even Cody is joining us," Daphne said.

"Cody?" Harry made a grimace as he wondered if he was Daphne's boyfriend. "Who is Cody?"

"Oh, he is our house elf," Astoria answered Harry's question. "Dad would never allow that."

"Why not," Harry asked.

"He has a pretty low opinion of house elves," Astoria answered.

"It is my fantasy, so I guess he doesn't mind." Daphne could have sworn her mirror self just rolled her eyes at her, then she focused her attention to the head of the table, which caused Daphne to look there too at the empty seat where her father would normally be. Oh, even better, she thought to herself then smiled at the realization. "He isn't even there!"

"Yeah, that is about the only way it would happen. If Cody even tried to join us for dinner, or a holiday celebration, dad would beat the crap out of him." Astoria frowned at the memory of that.

"Really?" Harry said as he remembered Lucius, Draco's father kicking around Dobby. He pictured Daphne's dad doing the same with their house elf. Somehow this left a bad taste in his mouth and he felt a desire to do something about it. He wasn't sure how Daphne would feel about that. "I think I would like to meet your father and Cody too."

"Um!" Daphne paused in thought. "I am not so sure, ah… Why?"

"Because I believe you about what you said about Malfoy. If the only problem is…" Harry hesitated as he knew this was a lie. "Is that he didn't believe you. Perhaps I can persuade him."

"Sure, I could set that up," Daphne said nervously. "But."

"No, let me set it up," Astoria said.

"I can do it," Daphne insisted.

"No, until you get the Patronus charm right, the less you talk to dad, the better," Astoria insisted.

"What are you implying?" Daphne asked, not so sure she felt right about that.

"I think she is right. I think there is a reason your father isn't in your fantasy," Harry said.

"Dad isn't in my fantasy either," Astoria snickered.

Daphne was about to answer Harry, but Astoria's comment made her laugh. "If you are fantasizing about what I think you are, I would hope not!" Harry managed to say exactly what Daphne was thinking.

"I am sure it doesn't mean that…" Those words died in Daphne's throat as the mirror caught her attention again. She watched dad driving away in the moving van all by himself. The meaning of that was now clear to her. She knew dad leaving would never happen, much as it pained her to admit how much she would love it. With how quick Astoria was to tell dad about her learning the Patronus charm, she didn't want to admit out loud that she truly hated her father and risk Astoria repeating it. "I think…. You are reading too much into it." Daphne had an uneasy feeling when she realized she would rather discuss this with Harry privately over her own sister. "I am probably, um, just hungry or something. That is probably why I am seeing a feast. Mind if I make a quick stop to the kitchen?"

"Not at all," Harry answered her.

"I thought you weren't going to leave me alone with Harry." Astoria fanned herself as she watched the mirror.

"I am not. He is going to have to come with me," Daphne retorted.

"Are you sure?" Harry questioned feeling a bit uneasy. He knew she didn't want to be alone with him.

"Of course, I am sure." Her voice slowed with uneasy hesitation.

* * *

Harry and Daphne walked out together.

"There is something I wanted to ask you." Her eyes began to mist over a tad.

"What is it?" Harry asked in all seriousness.

"Please, please, please, if you talk to my father, don't tell dad about that spell I used on you. Where we kissed and, and..." Daphne's cheeks turned pink. "If dad knew, he would be so angry… Bad things would happen," she added in a voice barely above a whisper.

Harry gazed into her eyes and could see true fear. "I hope I am wrong about this, but I must ask, does your father beat you?" Harry questioned. Even if Daphne denied it, Harry wasn't sure he would believe her.

"Oh, no. He doesn't. Not me anyway," Daphne looked Harry right in the eye for only a second, then she looked down at the floor.

"Someone else then?"

Daphne nodded without even realizing she was doing it, but she did not answer. Then Harry remembered what Astoria said about their father beating the house elf. Harry decided he was definitely going to free that house elf, but he wasn't sure how Daphne would feel about that, so he had no intention of telling her.

They went into the kitchen where Dobby worked hard at helping to prepare the next meal. "Hi Dobby, I am not sure you remember me, but…" Daphne said.

"Of course, Dobby remembers Miss Greengrass. Master Draco always nice to Dobby when Miss Greengrass around."

"Don't call Draco Malfoy master," Harry spat.

"And what about when I'm not?" Daphne asked. She wondered whether or not Draco treated Dobby as a punching bag when she wasn't around, just like her father did with Cody.

"Sorry master Harry! Speaking of Mas… Draco," Dobby picked up a cutting board and slammed it into his own head.

"Stop that!" Harry pulled the cutting board away from Dobby before he could smash it against his head again. "Don't punish yourself. Consider that an order."

"I thought he was a free elf," Daphne said looking a little taken aback.

Harry chuckled. "He is. Sometimes he just forgets that."

"Oh, Dobby would gladly serve Harry," Dobby said. "Speaking of which, I have more news on Dra…"

"Not now!" Harry whispered to Dobby, then he discreetly pointed to Daphne and put his finger over his lips indicating that Dobby should keep quiet about that. The last thing Harry needed was for him to tell Daphne he had house elves spying on Draco and Daphne repeating it later.

"If not that, then to what does Dobby owe the pleasure of this visit?" Dobby asked.

"We were just hoping we could sneak a little snack," Daphne requested.

Dobby snapped his fingers and a silver platter with a selection for cheese, crackers, bangers and fresh fruit appeared before them suspended in mid-air. "Thank you," Daphne smiled as she took just one. Then she let out a deep sigh. "I suppose now you want to get back to doing that spell."

"Yes, but I don't think you are going to be able to do it until you have some truly happy memories to draw from," Harry said. "On that note, I wish our date went much better, better for you I mean." He felt a tiny bit of encouragement when Daphne briefly smiled.

"It went much better than I expected," Daphne said.

"What were you expecting?" Harry questioned. After a brief pause, he added, "I am not sure I want to know." He hoped Daphne didn't think she could expect to be attacked again.

Daphne realized how rude that sounded. "Ah, I-I am s-sorry. I just didn't have very high expectations for our date." Then she lowered her gaze. "I heard about your date with Parvati."

"Oh!" Harry planned to protest, but after he thought about it, he let out a nervous chuckle instead. "Yeah, I see your point and I think I owe Parvati an apology, which I will do next time I see her."

"I'm sure she would appreciate that." Daphne gave another small smile.

"You have such a beautiful smile." Harry's own smile widened as he felt he was making some progress, but he doubted it would be enough to make the spell work for her.

"Thank you." She smiled even more. "So, do you."

"Would you be willing to take the luck potion?" Harry showed the vial and gently shook it.

"Ah, I don't think so. That is… I don't feel right about it. You won it fair and square. I wouldn't feel right taking it from you."

"Ok, I won't push, but let me know if you change your mind."

* * *

They left the kitchen together. "I guess we should go back to your sister," Harry suggested.

Daphne shrugged. "I don't think it really matters. I doubt she was really interested in learning the spell. She was probably just trying to get out of class."

"I could see Ron doing that," Harry chuckled, then he turned his head and looked at her. "Hermione on the other hand would hate to miss even one minute of class."

Daphne chuckled too then stopped suddenly as she saw her father glaring at her with his arms folded across his chest. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

Harry still had his eyes focused on Daphne, and he couldn't help to notice every trace of happiness she had only moments ago disappeared in an instant. He noticed the irony of it all, how he would kill to get to see his father, yet Daphne appeared to want nothing to do with hers.

"I have a meeting with Madam Pomfrey," Mr. Greengrass answered. "The real question is what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working hard in class trying to learn something? I pay the big bucks so you can get an education, not so you can galivant around the halls flirting with a boy like some cheap floozy."

Daphne began regretting not taking the luck potion. If the potion worked, they probably would not have encountered her father at all. "Ah, no dad, you got it all wrong. I wasn't flirting with **Harry Potter** here." She put extra emphasis on his name.

"I assure you that your daughter conducts herself like a perfect lady at all times. She wasn't flirting with me or any other boy for that matter." Harry glanced at Daphne hoping to see the smile return, but instead she looked utterly shocked.

"Comes from a proper upbringing. It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter." Mr. Greengrass extended his hand to Harry, expecting him to take it and shake his hand.

Something about this reminded Harry of that first day of school when Draco expected to seal the deal of 'picking out the wrong sort for him' with a handshake. He had a similar feeling of disgust where he would much rather give this man a one-way ticket to Azkaban, but he begrudgingly shook his hand. He knew his chances of freeing the Greengrass's house elf just might depend upon tricking Daphne's father into thinking he was falling for his Mr. Nice guy act. "Actually, I am glad we ran into you, sir," Harry said with a forced smile. In calling him sir, he could practically taste bile building up in the back of his throat. "I was just asking Daphne to set up a meeting with you."

"I guess she is useful after all." Mr. Greengrass smiled. Harry felt like shoving him down a flight of stairs. "I would love to. We really need to talk and clear up some misunderstandings." Mr. Greengrass was very pleased with this turn of events.

Harry quickly made plans to meet up with Mr. Greengrass later that evening.

"Excellent. Now if you will excuse me, I am really going to be late to my meeting, sorry." Mr. Greengrass glanced at his watch.

Daphne refused to even open her mouth well she watched her father leave. Only after she was certain he was out of earshot did she allow herself to speak. "I can't believe you actually lied to my father," Daphne said quietly in a tone barely above a whisper. Then she winced as she realized how bitchy that sounded.

Harry's first thought was the paranoid, she knows I am not really buying his friendliness routine, but then he realized she meant when he called her a perfect lady at all times. He grinned. "I did tell the truth… About you I mean." Daphne opened her mouth to protest, but he refused to let her interrupt. "I don't count that one time you fell victim to your own magic. You are not responsible for what you do well you are under the influence of a spell."

"Doesn't make me feel any less guilty about it though," Daphne admitted with a sigh.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank CSGT for his help with this story. I would also like to thank everyone who favorites, followed and or reviewed this story.


	8. Unforeseen Reactions

Mr. Greengrass entered Madam Pomfrey's office. "Please sit down," she requested in a quiet and somber tone.

"Why do people think bad news is easier to take when sitting down," Mr. Greengrass muttered to himself as he took a seat. He found the seats here to be so uncomfortable, just sitting down only added to an unpleasant experience. These chairs were not at all like the luxurious seating of his own home and office which he was accustomed to.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "In my opinion, I think your daughter was released from the hospital wing far too soon," she said.

"Nonsense. I just saw her, and she is doing fine. She is here to learn, not waste her time in the hospital wing."

"She didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"In the blood transfusion, your daughter contracted a rare blood born curse. Her magic will be prone to being dangerously strong or extremely weak and ineffective."

"What? That can't be."

"Afraid so. If she were to cast an obliviate spell for example, it either would barely work, resulting only in forgetting some insignificant detail or forgetting everything they ever learned."

Mr. Greengrass swallowed hard wishing this was some kind of joke. "How did you let this happen?" He slammed his fist down on the desk and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him.

* * *

When Harry and Daphne returned to Astoria, just from the look on her face, Astoria could tell her sister was upset.

"What did you say to her?" Astoria asked Harry with a bit of an accusing tone.

"We met up with dad in the hallway," Daphne said before Harry could answer.

"Oh, that explains it." She gave an apologetic look.

"We have dinner plans with dad tonight." Daphne let out a deep sigh.

"We? No, I have dinner plans with your father. You are not going," Harry declared.

"What if I want to…." She paused knowing full well this was a lie. Of course, she didn't want to go. "I mean what if dad wants me there?" Daphne asked.

"Ok, if you can tell me with a straight face that you actually want to go have dinner with your father and I tonight, then fine, you can come too." Harry looked her right in the eye and paused to give her an opportunity to say something, but she didn't. She only looked away at the mirror. Daphne's description of what she saw in the Mirror of Erised proved she would not want to have dinner with her father, and her negative reaction when he tried to join her and Professor Snape for lunch would suggest himself being there wouldn't exactly be a plus in her book, much as he wished that wasn't the case. Her long pause confirmed his suspicions. "I didn't think so. Besides, I have other plans for you tonight."

"I will go to the dinner and I will let you know what happens," Astoria assured her sister.

* * *

Later that evening, Harry escorted Daphne and her best friend Tracey to the room of requirements. "What are we doing here?" Daphne looked around the empty room.

"That is up to you. You can watch movies." A huge screen TV along with a large stack of movies and two very comfortable looking chairs suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Or play some games," A table appeared with a game of wizard's chest ready to go, a pool table and a ping pong table also suddenly appeared.

"How are you doing that?" Tracey asked.

"I am not. The room is doing that," Harry said.

Daphne looked over the movie selection. "Oh, I like this one." She grabbed Aladdin and put it in the player. She always liked this movie because she felt she could identify with Princess Jasmine. She knew she was destined for an arranged marriage, which was part of the reason she normally said no to anyone who wanted to date her. She knew it couldn't possibly last after she would be forced to marry someone else. She wished she had the courage to run away from home as the princess did in the early part of the film, but she knew that would never happen anymore then she would find a great guy to rescue her like Jasmine did.

"Enjoy," Harry told Daphne before departing.

* * *

Before meeting Astoria to go to Greengrass Manor, Harry picked up a package wrapped in green wrapping paper. Astoria eyed the package curiously. "Ah, I don't think dad is expecting a gift," she said.

"I know, but I wanted to."

"Ok!" Astoria found this odd, but she didn't say anything more about it.

Harry followed Astoria to the fireplace transport area and used it to go to the one at Greengrass manor. They entered through what appeared to be a library with numerous bookshelves filled all the way to the top with books. He couldn't decide if this place was beautiful or creepy. Most of the walls and bookshelves were of a dark cherry wood color with elaborate sculpting of serpents etched into the wood. Although this library had rather large windows, the moonlight barely managed to filter through the crimson curtains which gave off an eerie glow. Harry noted that he would feel quite comfortable here… If he were a vampire.

Astoria led him off down a corridor. He found the same dark ambient red hue lighting throughout. He could have sworn he caught a glimpse of a ghost or two. Then he arrived at the dinner table. When it came to actually having dinner, he began to understand what Daphne must be feeling when he offered up his luck potion. He believed he would be poisoned. "It all looks very good, but I am just here to talk," Harry exclaimed. "I just had a bit too much for lunch and…"

"Ha-ha," Mr. Greengrass laughed. "If you think I am trying to poison you…"

"No, it isn't that sir," Harry lied.

"I could always have the house elf sample the food for you first, so you know it isn't poisoned," Mr. Greengrass offered.

"That is not…." Harry paused and thought about that for a few moments. "Yes, I would very much like to meet your house elf," Harry said.

"Cody," Astoria called out and the house elf appeared. "I would like you to meet Harry Potter."

"It is an honor." Cody bowed to Harry. Cody had tattered clothing similar to what Dobby always wore and one of his arms was lodged into a makeshift sling.

"What happened to your arm?" Harry asked.

"Oh, he is just careless," Mr. Greengrass answered for him.

"Something like that," Cody admitted sheepishly with a forced grin.

Mr. Greengrass explained about Cody needing to sample Harry's food so he could see the food wasn't poisoned but Harry waved him off and blocked the plate with his hand then he explained that he simply wasn't hungry, and his stomach was acting up.

He handed Mr. Greengrass the box wrapped in green paper. Mr. Greengrass unwrapped the gift. He pulled out a scarf which had a tag on it that said to Cyrus Greengrass from Harry Potter. He could see there was another scarf in the box. "Thank you. I would have gotten you a gift too if I knew this was a gift exchange. Now, Cody make yourself useful and take these to my quarters." He passed the box off to the house elf.

"Read the inscription," Harry requested of Cody.

He read the same one Mr. Greengrass just read.

"No, the other one," Harry said.

"To Cody from Mr. Greengrass." A smile formed across his face. "Clothes from my master. I am free."

"What?" Astoria and Mr. Greengrass both said.

Mr. Greengrass was fuming mad inside and he couldn't believe he actually fell for that, but he still wanted a chance at getting Harry to clear his name, so he pretended not to be. "Of course, you are. After all your years of loyal service, you deserve it."

Harry was very much surprised by his reaction. This was almost the complete opposite of how Lucius Malfoy reacted when Dobby was set free. "Not at all what I expected your reaction to be," Harry admitted.

"Yes, I am not what you think I am, and neither is Lucius Malfoy," Mr. Greengrass said. "For a time, I suspected as you do that Lucius Malfoy was a death eater. I even almost called off the planned marriage contract between his son Draco and my daughter Daphne because of it. I just hope Mr. Malfoy doesn't find out about Daphne's condition before the wedding. He would end the contract mighty quick if he did."

"That is not fair. Why does Daphne get to marry Draco?" Astoria asked.

Harry managed to bite his tongue as he wanted to ask, 'why would Daphne want to marry Draco?' He couldn't help but to grimace. Now he knew who Astoria was having fun with when she looked in the mirror. The very thought of it turned his stomach, so now he no longer needed to fake a lack of appetite.

Mr. Greengrass turned to his youngest daughter. "That is enough out of you, young lady. Don't worry. I will get you a marriage contract too," he said. Then he looked to Harry again. "If the Malfoys were death eaters, my daughter would not be marrying into their family."

"Then you should be canceling that contract because they most certainly are," Harry insisted. "You said you once thought he was, your initial instincts were right."

"No, they weren't." Mr. Greengrass insisted. "The evidence was pretty convincing. Lucius Malfoy tried to recruit me to join the death eaters…"

"But sir, doesn't that prove…" Harry looked at him curiously.

"It proves nothing. When I confronted him to call off the marriage contract, he planned to end it off for the same reason, because he thought I tried to recruit him to be a death eater. Turns out, it was an Metamorphmagus wizard who tried to recruit us both. Do you know what that is?" Mr. Greengrass asked. He waved his want at a mirror, then it acted like a TV screen. He watched an oriental looking gentleman transform to look like Mr. Greengrass.

"Of course, I do," Astoria answered. "It is a wizard with the ability to.."

"Only speak when spoken to," Mr. Greengrass scolded his daughter. "That question was for Mr. Potter."

"Yes, I do." Harry nodded, but chose not to admit he knew one personally.

"Since we both refused, this person has gone out of his or her way to ruin our lives and our reputations," Mr. Greengrass admitted.

"That is very unusual sir. Usually they try to kill those who refuse," Harry said.

"He is right, dad, that is what usually happens." Astoria nodded in agreement.

He gave his daughter a brief glare wishing she would remember the part about not speaking out of turn. "I don't know why they have chosen to handle us differently. If I had to guess, I think he would rather trick Voldemort into thinking he succeeded in recruiting us over admitting failure. Do you know what Voldemort does to his followers that fail him?"

Harry needed no explanation for that. He witnessed firsthand the blatant cruelty Voldemort showed to his own followers during that night he was resurrected.

"Oh." Astoria nodded in understanding as she too understood despite never witnessing that personally.

Harry knew enough about Metamorphmagus wizards to know that was entirely plausible, but somehow, he still wasn't buying it, especially not about Lucius Malfoy. "Why didn't Daphne mention it?"

"She didn't know. Mr. Malfoy and I want to nail this person publicly. Otherwise the imposter will simply disappear, and we will both still look bad," Mr. Greengrass explained.

* * *

After they left, Harry met with Dumbledore to discuss his progress while Astoria joined her sister and Tracey in the room of requirements. Before Harry joined them again, Astoria informed Daphne of the highlights of the dinner, specifically that Harry had freed Cody and her father had planned to marry her off to Draco Malfoy.

Harry missed most of their chat, but he could tell Daphne was upset. "What is wrong?" He lowered his voice as he spoke to her.

Daphne wiped away a tear and did her best to pretend she wasn't crying. "I can't believe you freed Cody." She took a deep sigh. She stared at him for only a few seconds before looking back down at the ground.

"I'm sor-" Harry began.

"Don't you dare say you are sorry," she unintentionally snapped at him.

"Ok, look, I am not sorry I did it, but I am sorry it upset you," Harry said. He realized that he probably should have waited till after Daphne could do the Patronus charm before freeing Cody. "I will tell you what. Go ahead and hit me."

"Excuse me! What?" Daphne looked at him, unable to hide her shock.

"It will make you feel better." Harry closed his eyes and braced himself. He had no intention of fighting back.

Daphne let out a small chuckle. Then she got close to him. She kissed him sweetly on the cheek. "Thank you," she said with a smile. "You are right. That did make me feel better."

Harry opened his eyes. This wasn't at all like the hot and horny kiss she gave him when her spell went wrong, but Harry appreciated this too. "That wasn't what I…"

"I know, but you misunderstood. That is not what I am upset about. I am very happy Cody is free, but I don't want to marry Draco."

"Why not? He is so," Astoria and Tracey asked in unison. "Hot!" Astoria said at that same time Tracey said "Rich."

"I did get to know Draco better and I know one thing for sure, he isn't the kind of person I want to marry." Daphne folded her arms.

"I don't see why, but fine by me. Not sure how dad is going to feel about it," Astoria said.

"Oh," Daphne winced, then she remembered Cody is now free, so he no longer had his 'punching bag.' This brought a smile to her face like a huge weight had just been lifted. "I just realized; I don't care."

"Luckily, there is a very easy way for you to get out of that contract," Harry assured her with a smile.

"Yeah, there is," Tracey said with a smirk.

"Yeah, do you and Harry want some privacy?" Astoria asked with a chuckle. "So, you can get out of that contract?"

Daphne and Harry's cheeks went pink as they both understood exactly what they were implying. Astoria and Tracey left the room laughing and they made sure to close the door behind them.

"I really want out of this contract, but I can't go through with this. Sorry," Daphne said.

"Oh, no. It isn't that. It is your sister who is the pervert, not me." Harry reminded her. Daphne couldn't help it but to laugh. Then Harry turned around to make sure Tracey wasn't easedropping, but just in case he lowered his tone. "Your father suggested that if Mr. Malfoy found out about your condition, he would terminate the contract. If you really want out, all you have to do is make sure he finds out."

"I think I can do that." Daphne nodded with a smile. A fireplace suddenly appeared in the room, the type that was capable of communication between wizard families.

"Looks like you could do that right now," Harry said, "But before you do allow me to disappear." Harry wrapped himself in his cloak of invisibility.

Daphne used the fireplace to communicate with Lucius Malfoy. "Hello, I heard about the plans you and my father worked out for Draco and I. I am really glad the issue with my powers won't mess up the wedding."

"What issue?" Lucius asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I guess dad forgot to tell you that my powers are messed up. They are either dangerously too strong, or extremely weak. I thought it would make me not good enough to marry your son."

"Oh please, Draco isn't good enough for Daphne," Harry mumbled to himself.

"Oh, so your spell that went wrong was…. Oh!" Lucius's eyes opened wide.

Daphne realized Draco obviously told his father about the kiss she gave Harry when her spell went wrong. She did her best to force a smile and pretend to be unfazed by that.

"Not all the details have been worked out with that marriage contract and besides, there is another young lady I am considering for Draco. So, try not to get your hopes up too much. Goodbye Daphne." Mr. Malfoy ended the call.

Once the call ended, Harry removed his cloak.

"I think it worked!" Daphne said ecstatically. "Want to stay and watch a movie or something?"

"Love to." Harry nodded.

Daphne already had a pitcher of butter beer that Dobby left there for her and Tracey earlier. Two sparkling crystal wine glasses suddenly appeared. She poured the drink into each of the glasses. "A toast to me not marrying the ferret," Daphne said.

"I will drink to that," Harry said. They clanged their glasses together and each took a sip.

This was the happiest Harry had seen Daphne. He couldn't help wondering if it was enough for her to do the Patronus Charm, but he didn't want to push.

* * *

Meanwhile back at Malfoy manor, Lucius scoffed at the fireplace. "If that girl thinks she is marrying my son, she has another thing coming."

"Oh, on the contrary, I think Cyrus's daughter just might prove incredibly useful to me." Voldemort paced around on the cold, hard floor of Malfoy Manor.

* * *

A/N

Thank you everyone who read, favorited, followed and or reviewed this story. As always greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank CSGT for his help with this story.


	9. Trapped in a Lie

Lucius Malfoy paced around the floor and looked at Voldemort incredulously. Narcissa sat calmly in her seat. "I don't think she is as useful to us as you would think," Lucius said.

"Are you questioning me?" Voldemort gave him a threatening look.

"Of course not." Lucius gulped. "Her magic can go either way, too strong or too weak. Even…"

"Too strong sounds good to me," Voldemort interrupted. "But you have a point. We will have to find a way to make sure the magic is always too strong."

"Too strong is not a blessing. Both sides will lose. Even you will not be immune to the destructive effects," Lucius insisted.

"He is right." Narcissa agreed with her husband. "This curse was originally created by mud-bloods to put purebloods in their place." She raised her fingers forming air quotes as she rolled her eyes. "They wanted to teach us a lesson about power and humility."

"We will be the ones to teach them a lesson when I infect myself with this so-called curse," Voldemort said.

Narcissa and Lucius looked at each other for a few moments. Their faces went a few shades paler. "I don't think that is a good idea," Narcissa said.

"Besides, you can't. Only a pureblood can be infected with this curse." Lucius took a seat next to his wife and grabbed her hand.

"Well that is…" Narcissa paused as she felt a squeeze on her hand. "That is true," she said as she bowed her head down.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the room of Requirements, Harry and Daphne's movie just barely started. Harry found the seats in here very comfortable, but he realized he would prefer a love seat where he could snuggle up with Daphne while watching. He did his best to push that thought to the back of his head as he didn't want to explain why one would suddenly appear. He knew the room was very responsive to the needs of its occupants. Another thought crossed Harry's mind and he couldn't help it but to snicker.

To Daphne the movie hadn't shown anything funny yet. "What is it?" Daphne asked. The movie automatically paused itself, so they were free to talk without interruption.

"You know, as long as this is going to take, your friends are probably going to think we did it…." Harry suggested.

"Probably!" Daphne nodded her head and laughed. "But I say let them think that, just in case Mr. Malfoy decides I am right for his son after all."

"Let's hope not!" Harry nodded in agreement.

"Of course, if Mr. Malfoy backs out, dad will just get me another contract with some other prat," Daphne mused.

"Oh, so getting you out of that contract was all for nothing?" Harry asked with disappointment evident in his voice. He slumped his shoulders back.

"No, not for nothing…. At least I won't be the future Mrs. Malfoy. Dad couldn't possibly have made a worse choice." Daphne smiled. "And I have you to thank for that."

"Yeah, well, it still doesn't seem right to me. You shouldn't be forced to marry anyone. You should be free to make your own choices," Harry said.

Daphne smiled at the familiar line Harry just used that came straight out of her favorite movie. "Yes, well, that is one of the downsides of coming from a wealthy wizarding family," Daphne said. "Marriage contracts! Of course, these contracts are always about wealth and power. Since the Malfoys are the second wealthiest family in the wizarding world, dad wants to marry me into that family."

"Second? Who is the first? I thought they were."

"What? You are kidding right?" Daphne asked.

"You?" Harry guessed.

"No, we are third. Just wait till you get your full inheritance. Then you tell me who is the wealthiest," Daphne said.

"Me?" Harry questioned and couldn't hide his shock.

"Bingo! Ironically, if your parents were still alive, it is probably you my dad would be trying to marry me off to," Daphne admitted.

"Could you imagine that?" Harry asked with a bit too much of a grin on his face.

She just gave a nervous laugh. "Don't worry. Dad isn't foolish enough to think he could talk you into that. He might have thought he could make it a business deal with your parents, but with you, he knows you would actually have to be in love with me to even consider it."

"From everything I heard about my parents, I doubt they would have forced me into a marriage if I didn't want it," Harry said, hoping it was a fact.

"Yeah, your parents married for true love, which according to my father is the stupidest thing ever." Daphne rolled her eyes with obvious annoyance in her voice.

"If you are still trying to convince me to clear your father, you are doing a terrible job," Harry said. He immediately regretted saying that and hoped he didn't upset her.

Daphne smiled at him and gave a nervous chuckle. "If dad couldn't convince you he is innocent, I doubt I could either. What exactly did he say to you anyway? To clear himself, I mean."

Harry explained about the vision her father showed him in the mirror and his claim that a Metamorphmagus wizard was behind everything that made himself and Lucius Malfoy look guilty. As he explained and thought about it, Harry couldn't help wondering why if Voldemort has a person with that particular talent at his disposal, why would he have had Barty Crouch Jr. use a polyjuice potion and run the risk of the potion running out at the wrong time.

"It should be pretty easy to prove one way or the other," Daphne said in a very flat tone. Then she explained her plan, which Harry agreed to try it.

The communication fireplace reappeared. This time Harry covered Daphne with his cloak, and he was the one to contact Lucius Malfoy. "Hello," Harry called out.

"What do you want?" Lucius folded his arms.

"I know we have had our differences in the past, but… I just wanted to apologize." Harry could feel bile building in the back of his mouth. He didn't like this part of Daphne's plan, but he also understood the importance of it.

"It is my son Draco that you should be apologizing to," Mr. Malfoy declared.

"Um, not a chance," Harry said. "Do you know what your son did? He used an unforgivable curse on me."

"Really," Mr. Malfoy scoffed with a roll of the eye.

"Do you remember back when I accused you of putting the diary in Ginny Weasley's backpack at Diagon Alley?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"You told me you had no idea what I was talking about and I will bet you still don't."

"No, I don't." He tapped his foot impatiently against the floor.

"Of course, you don't," Harry said doing his best to hide his sarcasm but failing miserably. "Mr. Greengrass told me about the imposter. The one that broke into your home. At first, it looked like nothing of value was stolen, but as it turns out the most valuable thing of all was taken - your identity and your reputation. The thief was just taking what he needed - hair samples for polyjuice potions."

"Um!" Mr. Malfoy squinted and paused in thought. "Yes, I will admit, I was far too embarrassed by the lack of security at my home, and at first I thought nothing was taken. I should have pushed my pride aside and reported it anyway."

"Did you tell your son about the imposter?" Harry asked.

Mr. Malfoy paused as he stared at him for several moments. Then he cleared his throat and finally answered. "No, why?"

"Because I suspect the imposter recruited him," Harry said.

"Recruited him? For what?" Mr. Malfoy then bit his lip. "Oh, right! Yeah, I, ah, will look into it."

"Good." Harry nodded, then he ended the communication abruptly.

Daphne removed the cloak. "I was so wrong about dad. I should have known. I never should have asked you to clear him." She looked at him shocked. "Sorry."

Harry gave her a hug. "Don't even give it a second thought."

They stopped talking and the movie resumed. As they watched Harry fell asleep about an hour later. The only reason Daphne noticed was because his chair transformed into a bed complete with sheets, blankets and a comforter. The movements of the transformation were slow enough to avoid waking him up. Daphne didn't want to disturb him. She decided she would leave after the movie was over, but about 20 minutes later she too fell asleep. The movie stopped and her chair transformed into a bed as well.

* * *

After talking to Harry, Lucius called Cyrus. "Listen, I met with Potter today and tried to trick him into clearing us, so I told him something that wasn't exactly true and…" Cyrus explained before Lucius even had the chance to open his mouth.

"I know. He just called me to apologize," Lucius interrupted. "Don't worry. I played along."

"As much as I never thought he would call you in a million years, I am glad he did."

"Why is that?"

"It proves he bought my story," Mr. Greengrass cheered. "Tricking him is as easy as taking candy from a baby."

"Yeah, it is so pathetic how dumb he can be." Lucius laughed. "I can't believe he actually believed that. Someone broke into my home and stole my hair, just so he could make a polyjuice potion." Then he stopped laughing. "I mean really is that the best lie you could come up with?"

"What? No, that isn't what I said. I said it was a metamorphmagus," Mr. Greengrass said.

"Crap," Cyrus and Lucius exclaimed.

"Was there anything else?" Cyrus asked.

"No," Lucius said. Then Voldemort cleared his throat very loudly. "Actually, one more thing. Voldemort thinks it is time you bring your daughters into his inner circle. Especially Daphne," Lucius said.

"That is not a request," Voldemort clarified.

"Yes… My lord." Cyrus gulped. "Don't worry. I have complete control over both my daughters. They will do as I command."

"For your sake, they better," Voldemort declared.

* * *

The next morning Harry woke up before Daphne did. Harry's bed simply disappeared not long after Harry got up and didn't need it anymore. He stood over Daphne's bed and simply watched her sleep from a respectable distance admiring her pretty face. He didn't even notice when the door opened, and Astoria came through. "Oh, I guess you two did have a great night," Astoria snickered.

"Yes, well," Harry said awkwardly. Of course, he realized how this looked. Daphne seemed tangled in satin sheets on a messy bed that was easily big enough for three people and the bed he slept in had already disappeared. If it really were what it looked like, he would have been in no hurry to get up, but Astoria didn't necessarily know that.

"Good morning," Daphne said as she finally woke up and sat up in bed.

"Good morning. Dad called for you. He wanted you to call him back, but don't, at least not until you actually learn the spell," Astoria said. "You can blame it on me. Just tell him I forgot to tell you."

"I guess we should at least pretend we are trying to learn a spell. Otherwise, we might get Harry in trouble with Dumbledore," Daphne said.

Although Harry appreciated her concern, he felt it was unfounded.

"Oh, no. Everything I did was legit. I just hope it was enough," Harry said, though he doubted it.

* * *

The three of them went out to the courtyard joined by Dumbledore. Dumbledore just watched and let Mr. Potter do the teaching.

Harry, Astoria and Daphne each pulled out their wands. Harry explained how to do the spell and gave a demonstration. Of course, all the usual memories came up for him of his Christmas with the Weasleys, kissing Cho, and some of his sweeter moments with Hermione and Ron. "Focus on your happiest memories." Then he thought of some of his more recent memories. "There was that day I found out you woke up, that first time you kissed me, the second time you kissed me," Harry said.

"Last night," Astoria whispered to her sister with a smirk on her face.

"Expecto Patronum." Harry called out. Ribbons of energy flowed from his wand and apparently took on the physical form of a stag.

Daphne waved her wand and focused on some of her happiest memories from the last few days. She realized almost all of them involved Harry. She appreciated him trying to talk Dumbledore out of forcing her to learn this spell, lying to her father in telling him she behaved like a perfect lady, helping her get out of a dreaded marriage contract, freeing the house-elf, setting up such a fun night, and even though it was the result of a spell, she couldn't help it but to admit how she really did enjoy that first kiss. Maybe she should have slept with him last night. Where did that thought come from? She did her best to push that thought out of her head. This time something was happening. She could feel it. "Expecto Patronum," Daphne called out as she waved her wand doing her best to mimic what Harry did. Magic bands began to form out of the end of her wand and hers too took on a physical form of a small bird.

Harry and Astoria both clapped and cheered. Daphne looked at her tiny glowing bird and couldn't help comparing it to Harry's much larger Stag. She got the spell to work alright, but she feared hers was the weak version of this spell. She went over to Dumbledore. "Sorry, looks like my spell is underpowered," she said as she slumped down her shoulders.

"I am not so sure. With a Patronus size isn't always an indication of power. Ever heard of the wizard Illyius? The young wizard endured much ridicule because of having such a small and weak looking Patronus. His was a tiny little mouse, yet during the impeding battle, he had the last laugh as his proved to be the strongest of them all. I think yours will be similar, but just in case I am wrong, I want you to have this." He handed her a locket. "Wear it and keep it with you. Regrettably, I must send you into a very dangerous situation. You will have an escort. If your spell doesn't work, or you need a fast escape, this key will take you to my inner chambers. I don't want you relying on your own magic for that. There is no telling where or when you will end up, if you do an apparate spell yourself. If your spell ended up underpowered you could end up only a few feet from where you started, but if not, who knows?" He theorized that it might even result in time travel, but he didn't say that.

"Thank you," Daphne said. Her Patronus flew around them and let out an ear-piercing screech. Everyone couldn't help themselves but to block their ears.

Professor Snape's warning about the possibility of Daphne's Patronus being harmful to more then just dementors echoed in Dumbledore's head. He knew one thing for sure, he got the over-powered Patronus he wanted, but he also realized this just might have been a mistake.

"Time to return dad's call," Daphne said. Harry ended his Patronus, while Daphne's just followed her.

"May I come with you? There are…" Harry began to request.

"Of course. I know there is something you want to discuss with him too," Daphne interrupted.

"Several things actually." Harry nodded.

* * *

Daphne, Astoria, and Harry went back to the room of requirements together and made the call to Cyrus Greengrass. "I was going to call you anyway because I got the Patronus spell to work but Astoria said you wanted to speak with me."

"Yes, I did." Cyrus said, then much to his dismay he noticed all three of them in the fireplace. "Ah…" His own hand shook. "Mr. Potter. I didn't expect to hear from you again so soon."

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Harry folded his arms.

"I owe you an apology. I am not a death eater, never was and have no affiliation with the dark lord, but I really had no good way of proving it," Cyrus explained. "So yes, I counterfeited a lie. I will do my best to…"

"Don't lie again. It just makes you look more guilty." Harry rolled his eyes, definitely not buying it one single bit, "No offense to your daughters present here, of course. I do know that they are nice girls, unlike you. And I gotta admit that after spending some time with Daphne, I can't get her out of my head... Despite the fact that I don't trust you, if Daphne wasn't tethered to a marriage contract, I would try courting her myself. something you would never allow, or more like your master would never allow."

"Wait, are you saying you would be interested in marrying my daughter?" Cyrus asked. His mouth gapped open and his eyes widened in surprise. He of course would be very interested in having his daughter married to the future richest wizard in the world, especially in a moment where he was worried that the contract she had with the second richest wizard family in the world - the Malfoys - could be cancelled if they were to find out about Daphne's condition. However, he knew that Harry was right - he was a Death Eater and Harry was an enemy of Voldemort, he couldn't allow Harry to marry his daughter... or could he? The Dark Lord will have Potter killed soon... Cyrus thought. It would be a shame to let all the Potter family fortune go to waste when it could be inherited by a grieving widow.

"Ah, not so fast," Harry began. He quickly realized Daphne told the truth about this. He could tell Cyrus was already thinking about it, but he had no desire to make himself the next prat Daphne would be forced to marry.

Cyrus interrupted Harry before he could finish talking because he realized another opportunity to prove he wasn't a death eater. "You know what? I wouldn't allow a marriage between you and my daughter IF I were a Death Eater, but as I said, I am not. This is all just a big misunderstanding. Maybe I can sort something out with the Malfoys to untie Daphne from the contract so you can marry her instead."

"Ah, I just meant dating…. But if that goes well, I wouldn't rule out a future marriage," Harry said. "But as it is, I don't want to fall in love with a girl who is definitely not available."

"I have a suggestion. See if Mr. Malfoy would go for giving me Daphne's marriage contract. Then you don't have to worry about him finding out about Daphne's issue…. I get to marry Draco and Potter is free to court Daphne," Astoria suggested.

"I will see if Mr. Malfoy would agree to that." Cyrus nodded, rubbing his hands together very pleased with the prospect that he just might get both his daughters married into the wealthiest wizarding families.

"I am not so sure that is such a good idea," Daphne said.

"Well, it is not up to you," Cyrus said. "Oh, and before I forget, you and your sister need to come home this weekend."

"Why?" Daphne asked.

"Just do it. It is a surprise for your mother." Cyrus thought up an excuse on the spot. He wasn't at all used to Daphne questioning him. "See you both this weekend." He ended the communication abruptly.

"Why not?" Astoria asked. "I thought you didn't want to marry Draco."

"I don't, but I don't want you to marry him either. I didn't want to tell Tracey, but Draco has no issue with using unforgivable curses. One disagreement, about anything and who knows what he would do to you. Not the kind of guy I want my sister marrying."

"You're kidding." Astoria couldn't hide her shock. Daphne shook her head no.

"It is no joke," Harry confirmed with a nod of the head.

"Oh!" Astoria sat down on a couch that suddenly appeared while she did her best to process that. "I will have to think about that. But the good news is it leaves the two of you free to date."

"Yeah, about that." Harry looked Daphne in the eye. "I don't really expect you to date me. I only told your father that in an attempt to get you out of all marriage contracts. I don't want you stuck with another prat you are not interested in."

"All you had to do was tell him about what you did last night." Astoria snickered.

"Nothing happened last night. We fell asleep watching movies," Daphne said.

'Yeah, doing what you think we did, would have only made sense if it was me who needed to have the best night ever,' Harry thought to himself.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank everyone who favorited, followed and or reviewed this story. I would also like to thank CSGT for all of his help.

I know in cannon it isn't true that the Potters were the richest of the wizarding families, but it is true in this story.


	10. The two of you are being recruited

The next morning, when Daphne returned to her bedroom after her morning shower, she found a corked nontransparent vial sitting on her bed with a note attached. At first Daphne wondered if Harry had sent it. She had thought he had given up on trying to give his luck potion to her. She was already running late, so she took it with her and decided she would read the note later. During breakfast, so many other students received mail, she decided this would be a good chance to check out her package. She read the note.

_Daphne,_

_Mr. Malfoy found out about your condition and he revoked the marriage contract I had planned between you and his son Draco. Your sister will be taking your place. Your best chance for a wealthy marriage is to get Mr. Harry Potter to fall in love with you and this needs to happen fast. The potion I sent you is a powerful love potion. Please accept a date with him and just slip a few drops of it into his drink. He will fall desperately in love with you and will beg me for your hand in marriage. Then he will likely agree to anything I ask of him._

_You know I just want what is best for you,_

_from,_

_Dad_

Daphne read that again wishing she had misread something, but no, it actually said exactly what she thought it did. She tapped her sister on the shoulder and got her to follow her, right back into the same girl's bathroom where all her troubles started. She still found this room to be cold. The sink had been repaired and every trace of blood that spilt here had been cleaned up. Her sister read the note too. Not long after, her note burst into a fiery blue flame and then put itself out leaving only the smallest speck of charcoal colored embers.

"I can't believe dad would ask you to do that," Astoria said.

"I can. After the way he lied to Harry." Daphne shook her head.

"Are you going to do it?" Astoria asked. She knew Daphne usually did whatever dad asked of her.

Daphne didn't answer her. Instead she went into a toilet stall and uncorked the vial. A mist rose from the vial with a rather pleasant smell. She turned the vial upside down and watched that pearl sheen liquid drip out. She shook the vial in an attempt to make it spill faster. To Astoria this smelled of freshly baked chocolate fudge brownies and a few other things she couldn't quite identify. To Daphne this smelt of something spicy and fresh strawberries. This brought back the memory of the day she and Harry visited Dobby. She could practically taste those bangers.

"You could have just said no," Astoria said as Daphne flushed the toilet. Of course, her voice wasn't even heard over the sound of the flushing. Then Daphne brushed her hands together in rapid secession indicating she was all done with that. Both girls lingered just a little longer taking in the fumes.

Daphne tossed the now empty vial in the trash. "Dad must have forgotten to send the potion," Daphne snickered.

"Either that or someone stole it. Stuff like that happens all the time." Astoria shrugged.

* * *

A few days later, Daphne and Astoria returned home for the weekend. They assembled at the table in the dining room. Cyrus Greengrass took a seat across from his two daughters instead of his usual seat at the head of the table. "Dad, I am still behind on my schoolwork, so after whatever it is that is so important is over, I would like to go back to school as soon as possible," Daphne requested. "I got the Patronus working too." She pointed to the small glowing white bird that remained perched on her shoulder.

"Yes, whatever." His whole face scrunched up as if in the presence of something that really stunk. Much to his dismay, he assumed the lack of size also meant a lack of power. "We have more important things to discuss. Tell me, how did it go with Mr. Potter? I am rather surprised I haven't heard from him yet," Mr. Greengrass said.

"How did what go with Mr. Potter?" Daphne played dumb.

"You did get the package?" Mr. Greengrass asked expectantly.

"What package?" Astoria asked.

"Oh, not for you. It was for Daphne," Mr. Greengrass clarified.

"Ah, I got your note, but no package!" Daphne took a deep breath and looked down at the floor.

"Somebody probably stole it. What was it?" Astoria asked.

"A love potion," Mr. Greengrass answered.

"Oh!" Astoria nodded while rubbing her hands together. "I know plenty of girls that would like to get their hands on that." She did her best to go with the 'it was probably stolen excuse' and there were far too many suspects to narrow it down.

"That explains it. I was wondering why I hadn't heard from young Mr. Potter begging me for your hand in marriage," Mr. Greengrass declared. "No matter, I will get you another potion."

"Ah, dad, are you sure it is such a good idea to manipulate him like that?" Daphne asked. "I mean, you already lied to him once. If we get caught doing this, it will just make you look more guilty."

"That is why we need to seal the deal as quickly as possible."

"Make it too late for him to change his mind." Daphne groaned in disapproval.

Then she heard laughter from the adjacent hallway just outside. "I can understand you not being interested in Mr. Potter, but rest assured, your marriage to him will be short lived. Then you will be a very wealthy widow," a woman with a pale complexion and unruly curly black hair said as she entered the room. She wore all black, overly dark makeup and a wicked smile.

A baldheaded man with a pale complexion, and an unusually flat nose entered and took the seat at the head of the table, which was normally reserved for Cyrus. Daphne and Astoria both looked at each other wondering what the dark lord Voldemort was doing in their dining room. Six other men wearing dark hooded robes and the classic masks of a death eater marched in and fanned out stationing two guards at each of the three exits of this room.

"Dad, look out," Astoria warned.

"Do not be alarmed. The two of you are being recruited," Voldemort said.

Astoria looked to her sister and quickly whispered to her. "If we refuse, they will probably kill us."

"Yes, and it will be my pleasure to do so." Bellatrix nodded with a wicked grin on her face. She brandished a silver dagger.

"I see my reputation precedes me. Just remember dear, I don't really need you. I only need your blood." Voldemort pointed his wand at Daphne.

Bellatrix snickered. "If that is all you need…" She stepped up behind Daphne and held the dagger to her neck. Daphne held her breath as a bead of sweat ran down her forehead. She was terrified.

"They will both be happy to join," Cyrus insisted. "There is no need to threaten them."

"We shall see. Give her a chance to decide," Voldemort declared, but his wand still remained pointed in Daphne's direction.

"As you wish, my lord," Bellatrix said but she didn't move her dagger.

"Of course, we will join you," Daphne gulped. "Right sis." She grabbed her sister's arm.

Voldemort gestured for Bellatrix to back off. She nodded and backed off as commanded. "You never let me have any fun."

Daphne silently wished her Patronus would do something to protect her. It was supposed to be a powerful protection spell after all. Then suddenly her Patronus let out a loud screech, which caused Voldemort, Bellatrix and the rest of the death eaters to drop what they were holding as they went to block their ears. Even Astoria tried to block her ears, but Daphne refused to let go of her arm. Her Patronus streaked toward Voldemort.

Daphne resisted the urge to block her ears and instead clasped the locket Dumbledore gave her. As she did, Daphne and Astoria disappeared, so did her Patronus only a split second before it would have crashed right into Voldemort.

* * *

The two sisters reappeared safely in Dumbledore's inner chamber.

"Thank Merlin that worked." Daphne breathed a sigh of relief.

"You should have grabbed dad too. There is no telling what that psycho will do to him," Astoria scolded her sister.

Dumbledore and Ms. McGonagall walked in on the two sisters. "Harry was right about dad," Daphne said.

"No, the dark lord intruded. He wasn't dad's guest," Astoria insisted.

"Dark Lord!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

"Where is he now?" Ms. McGonagall asked.

"You heard what he said. He said the TWO of us were being recruited. No way was dad an innocent victim. If he was trying to recruit ALL of us, he would have said so."

"Um," Astoria tried to think of a believable reason Daphne was wrong.

"Besides, think about it. When have you known dad not to take the head seat at the dining room table," Daphne asked? "Obviously he saved that seat for the dark lord. He knew he would be joining us."

"Oh." Astoria really didn't like it, but she realized Daphne was probably right.

"Young ladies!" Dumbledore raised his voice to get their attention. "Where is the dark lord now?"

"Oh! Ah, back at our house, Greengrass manor," Astoria answered Dumbledore.

"Also, I really need to talk to Harry Potter," Daphne requested. "Can you arrange it?"

"Yes." Dumbledore nodded. He instructed Ms. McGonagall to take Daphne to see Harry. Then he immediately summoned a group of aurors.

* * *

Ms. McGonagall escorted Daphne to Gryffindor tower and brought her right into the common room. Ginny and Hermione were here making small talk. "You wait here. I will see if I can find Harry for you," Ms. McGonagall ascended the staircase to the boy's dormitories.

"What is she doing here?" Ginny called up to Ms. McGonagall.

"Harry and I just have a little project, assigned by Dumbledore."

For Harry's sake, Hermione decided to be polite to Daphne as he had requested. "I can see it was successful. Congratulations." Hermione smiled at her. Of course, she noticed the glowing white bird perched on Daphne's shoulder.

Ginny was so disappointed Hermione was being cordial. "Get out of here snake."

"Ginny! She came in here with Ms. McGonagall. She has every right to be here," Hermione snapped at her. Ginny pouted and folded her arms. "Ignore her. She is just jealous."

"There is nothing to be jealous of. Harry and I only had one date, maybe two. Does the movie night count? He is not my boyfriend. We are just…."

"Yeah, get out of here snake. My Harry doesn't want to see you." Ginny glared at Hermione and Daphne.

Harry raced downstairs. "Yeah, I can see that. That must be why he came running down the stairs."

"Are they giving you a hard time?" Harry asked with concern evident in his voice.

"Ms. Granger was being nice," Daphne said.

"You can call me Hermione."

He smiled at Hermione then glared at Ginny.

* * *

Harry left with Daphne to the Astronomy tower.

"Thanks for meeting with me privately. My father is far worse than I ever thought possible," Daphne began.

"I didn't want to be right," Harry admitted, "But, I am not surprised." He bit his tongue and reframed from saying 'I told you so.' "So, please tell me, what happened?"

"When I went home this weekend, you will never guess who he had over for dinner? Voldemort and several of his death eaters. He wanted to recruit us. Us meaning my sister and me. I got out of there thanks to the locket Dumbledore gave me."

"Is your sister ok," Harry asked again sounding very concerned.

Daphne couldn't help it but to smile at how sweet Harry was being. "Yes, I took hold of her and she came with me, but I left my father behind. He is worse than I could have imagined. You wouldn't believe what else he wanted me to do."

"What?"

"He wanted me to give you a love potion," Daphne said. "I really don't want to do that."

"I believe you and I trust you."

"No, don't trust me. After what he said." Her eyes began to show tears.

Harry hugged her. "What did he say, exactly?"

"He planned to make me a very wealthy widow. Like I said he is so much worse than I ever thought possible. When he realizes I won't do it, I just wouldn't put it past him to force me to."

"Imperious curse?"

"Yes," Daphne nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile back at Greengrass manor, Voldemort demanded he bring his daughters back here.

"I am not sure I can," Cyrus admitted. "Why are they so important to you?"

"He wants to infect himself with your daughter's overpowered magic curse," one of the masked Death Eaters said.

"Lucius?" Cyrus questioned. "I was wondering if that was you."

Lucius removed his death eater mask and lowered his hood revealing his long blond hair.

"If it is just about that curse, my daughter might not be the only way you can get it," Cyrus said.

Lucius put his mask back on and bowed his head down wishing Cyrus knew when to shut up.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank everyone who favorited, followed and or reviewed this story. I would also like to thank CSGT for all of his help.


	11. The Battle at Greengrass Manor

When Harry returned to the Gryffindor Common room, he found Ginny waiting for him with her arms folded across her chest. "It just pains me how pathetic you look when you come running every time Greengrass comes around. It really makes you look like a loser." She bit her tongue as she realized she probably shouldn't have called the guy of her dreams a loser.

"If making a new friend makes me a loser, then you and I have very different definitions of what a loser is," Harry snarled at Ginny.

"Seriously, what is it with guys and blonds?" Ginny rolled her eyes at Harry. "They all lose their minds every time a mildly attractive one so much as bats an eyelash at them. My brother going for the phlegm, I get it. He is completely blind to how annoyingly snotty she is, because she is a champion and she is drop dead gorgeous. But.."

Every word she spoke enraged Harry more. "Wait! Stop right there. Fleur is my friend, so don't you dare talk about her like that. Also, don't forget, she is highly likely to become your sister-in-law."

"Don't remind me. Ick," Ginny spat. "But that is so not the point."

"Then what is your point?"

"Greengrass is a nobody, not even close to Fleur's level."

"Daphne isn't Fleur and she is not a nobody." Harry could feel the rage building, "Daphne is her own person and has her own beauty, and I like her just the way she is."

"What I really don't get is why you would fight with Notts over her," Ginny said, her words laced with vehemence.

"I am not fighting with anybody over her. True she had a marriage contract, but it wasn't to Notts. It was to Malfoy, which I am pretty sure I got her out of it." Daphne didn't actually tell him that her marriage contract was cancelled, but if her father wanted her to slip him a love potion, there is a good chance that contract to Malfoy was over.

Ginny laughed. "She is a Slytherin. They all want Malfoy bad. Marrying into one of the wealthiest families is probably a dream come true for her. You should just let it be."

"You don't know what you are talking about. If you knew Daphne at all, you would know that isn't what she wants," Harry practically screamed at her.

Ginny laughed again which only irritated Harry more. "You are just in it to get the girl."

"I'm not fighting to 'get a girl'. I just want Daphne to be free to marry whoever she wants. It's not about me at all," Harry declared.

"It's about her then?" Ginny chuckled, "Ok, why do you care about her so much then?"

"Just before I almost killed Daphne, she…"

"You… almost killed her?" Ginny interrupted unable to hide her shock.

"It was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt her. Malfoy attacked me, and I fought back, and she got in the way of my spell and..."

"It was an accident then. You shouldn't feel guilty about it. She was probably helping Malfoy anyway. If I were you, I wouldn't get within two feet of her," Ginny declared.

"Again, you have no idea what you are talking about. NO! She saved me from Malfoy." Harry shouted at Ginny. He could feel a blood vessel pulsing right beneath his scar. He couldn't understand why Ginny was behaving like such a troll.

"Oh, I had no idea," Ginny said softening her tone.

"That is something I will not forget. I really owe her. Big time! So, don't ever insult her again," Harry insisted.

"I did… Didn't know," Ginny stuttered. "I understand. I'm sorry."

* * *

Meanwhile, Lucius paced around Greengrass manor.

"If I may, the girls might not have gotten far. I think we should search the house," Lucius suggested before Cyrus could explain another way for Voldemort to acquire the curse.

"Very well. If you find them, kill them," Voldemort commanded.

"With pleasure." Bellatrix gave a wicked grin as she polished her silver dagger. The blade refracted a streak of light along the walls of the house.

"No, please, my lord. I will make them come around," Cyrus pleaded.

"Are you sure killing them is a good idea? I mean there are so few true pure blood females left. Even if they won't be loyal to you, they would still be good for breeding," Lucius suggested. Bellatrix snarled at Lucius.

"You have a point. If they are still here, capture…" Voldemort declared. "Torture, but do not kill."

Bellatrix's eyes lit up at the thought of torturing the two girls. With a wand in one hand and her dagger in the other, Bellatrix was the first to leave the room. "Come out, come out wherever you are." She laughed with a high pitch banshee like screech.

"If I find them first, I will be subjecting those two beauties to a completely different kind of torture," Antonin, another masked death eater declared. "After being in prison for so long, a guy has got to…"

If looks could kill, the glare he got from Cyrus would have been the end of him. "Then hire a prostitute. If you touch my daughters that way, I will have it chopped off," Cyrus threatened Antonin.

"I hate to interrupt, but you know your daughters better than anyone. Where would they go in the house," Lucius asked Cyrus.

"The treehouse. Outside." Cyrus shrugged.

"Lead the way," Lucius requested. They left together.

Antonin was the next to depart. The rest of the death eaters piled out of the room splitting up all over the house. One of the Death Eaters only pretended to go look for the girls, instead he took advantage of the opportunity to leave.

Bellatrix went to the library. There were plenty of bookcases and places to hide here. From the fireplace, sparks sprang up, spitting embers into the air. A blinding silvery light overwhelmed Bellatrix's field of vision. Instinctively, she averted her eyes. After a few moments she looked again. "Dumbledore!" She pointed her wand at the fireplace where Dumbledore and a group of aurors now stood.

Sparks ran against the shield Dumbledore protected everyone with and flew everywhere. They landed on books, which burst into a fiery blaze with an unnatural green hue. About twenty aurors piled into the now burning library.

Bellatrix realized they were hopelessly outnumbered. She would apparate her way out of here, but she had to make sure Voldemort was safe first. As far as she was concerned, the rest of the Death Eaters were expendable. Then she spotted that filthy blood traitor niece of hers.

"Nymphadora." Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and pointed her wand.

"Don't call me Nymphadora," Tonks snared at her aunt. She brandished her own wand.

Smoke hit one of the many fire alarms, which triggered the sprinkler system. Water cascaded down from the ceiling like rain, but it did little to squelch the eerie green flames. Bellatrix whirled around her wand which seemed to guide all the flames around. They took on an almost corporal form of a snake with sharp fangs. The snake slithered toward the group of aurors and surrounded them. Much to Bellatrix's dismay, the snake disintegrated into a puff of dark smoke as it clanged against Dumbledore's shield.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lucius and Cyrus explored the girl's tree house. Just like the magical tents common to the wizarding world, the tree house managed to be much larger and grander on the insides then the humble looking exterior would suggest. This was the first time Cyrus had been here. Very fancy gold framed oil paintings lined the walls with paintings of dragons, fairies, hippogriffs, and other fairytale creatures. "Is one of your daughters an artist," Lucius asked, while eyeing these amazing works of art. "These are incredible."

"No, at least I don't think so." Cyrus made a scowl. "Cody used to paint stuff like this. I thought I had them all destroyed."

"The house elf?" Lucius scoffed. Then he scrunched his nose as if he now thought he was in the presence of something that stunk.

Cyrus pointed his wand at Lucius. "How dare you suggest my daughters be used for breeding?"

Lucius put up his hands. "I was trying to help you! Do you really think our lord would be touched by your fatherly love when you pleaded to him to spare your daughters? We needed a pragmatic argument to convince him. Or would you rather let my psycho sister-in-law kill them?"

Both men turned and looked toward the house as they easily heard the fire alarm.

"I think we better not go back inside," Cyrus said.

"Agreed. I think I saw the girls go that way." Lucius pointed away from the house. Both men knew it was a lie, but they fled the area like the cowards they were.

* * *

Dumbledore and the Aurors continued to force their way through the library. Voldemort noticed the alarm too. He raced to the library. As he entered, a band of red energy whizzed right over his head, missing him by mere inches. "Dumbledore!" he called out. He aimed his wand for Dumbledore. Tonks aimed her wand right for his hand and successfully disarmed him. Then she readied her wand and prepared herself for another spell. Another Auror called out to her. "Look out!" Tonks ducked just in time as a flying knife whipped right over her head and stuck firmly into the wall. Of course, she knew it was her dear old aunt who threw the knife. The Auror who warned her, walked over, and pulled Bellatrix's knife out of the wall. He cut up some of the curtains into long narrow rope like bands.

"It is all over, Tom," Dumbledore declared.

"That muggle name no longer has any meaning." Voldemort's nearly nonexistent nostrils flared up and his eyes narrowed. He rolled on the ground and scooped up his wand, then he flung a band of green energy out from the tip of his wand in Dumbledore's direction.

"You might as well give up now, Tom," Dumbledore declared as the energy from Voltemort's blast thrashed against his shield.

"Stop calling me by that name," Voldemort demanded. Bellatrix grabbed Voltemort's hand and waved her wand without saying so much as a word. Energy ribbons whipped around them. Once all the Bands fell, the two of them were gone.

"Damn it," Tonks said, then she pointed her wand at two more Death Eaters she noticed that just rushed in. "Stupefy!" An energy beam struck them both down. She felt quite the rush watching them fall over so easily.

The Auror who grabbed the knife went to the now fallen Death Eaters and used the torn-up curtains to tie them up.

Antonin approached just outside the library. "Avada Kedavra," he said. A green energy emitted from the end of his wand and engulfed the Auror, who let out a guttural scream of pain and then dropped dead right on top of the Death Eater he was attempting to tie up, who was also engulfed by the spell due to proximity and transitioned from simply unconscious to dead, not that Antonin cared about collateral damage.

* * *

Tonks noticed Antonin and chased after him. He raced up a flight of stairs with Tonks hot on his trail. Once he reached the top, he rounded the corner, turned around and whipped out his wand and waited only moments for her to catch up. Once she came into view, Antonin called out "Stupefy."

Tonks slipped on the rug and fell. She watched the flash of light fly right over her head. Antonin was all prepared to take the unconscious girl elsewhere so he could have his way with her, but much to his surprise, she was still awake. She kicked him just below the belt as he approached her. He groaned in pain. Tonks stood up, then she saw another masked Death Eater with his wand pointed at her. She grabbed Antonin and pulled him in front of her using him to shield herself.

"You think that is going to protect you," the death eater snickered. "Crucio!" He pointed his wand at both of them. He easily caught Tonks and Antonin in his blast. Both of them went down in pain which lasted for only a few minutes.

It wasn't long before Dumbledore arrived on scene and pointed his want at the remaining Death Eater. "Stupefy!" The Death Eater flew back into a wall making a loud clang sound and he passed out. Far more of the Death Eaters got away then Dumbledore would have liked, but they definitely won today. They had no trouble apprehending Antonin and the other Death Eater.

Lucius and Cyrus pretended to have seen the girls go into a bar, so they went in too and purchased a round of fire whiskey.

Later that evening, Cyrus and Lucius returned to Malfoy manor. "If our lord successfully acquires the curse he wants, he will accidently wipe out his own army," Lucius explained. "Including us! So, if you know of any other way he can get that curse, don't tell him. Keep it to yourself."

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank everyone who favorited, followed and or reviewed this story. I would also like to thank CSGT for his help with this story.

Someone suggested I write a Daphne and Draco story without Harry. I already have so many projects going, therefore I am not really looking to start a new story, but I am mentioning it here in case any of you awesome writers out there want to take a crack at it. This person motivated and inspired me to update this particular story and for that, I say thank you.


	12. I will protect you!

After Voldemort barged right into Malfoy Manor, Lucius spoke up. "We tried to capture his daughters, but they gave us the slip," Lucius explained quickly before anyone could ask any questions.

"No matter." Voldemort turned to Cyrus. "You said there was another way for me to acquire this curse."

"Yes." Cyrus fidgeted with the sleeves of his own shirt. "Ah, D-Daphne got the c-curse from m-my s-sister."

"And where is your sister now?" Voldemort demanded to know.

Lucius glared daggers at Cyrus and discreetly mouthed a 'no'.

Cyrus knew that he had to lie. However, being caught in a lie would surely mean his death. He remained silent for a long while, thinking about what to say, until Voldemort spoke in a threatening tone, "My patience is wearing thin... Talk. Now."

"My l-lord, unfortunately s-she's at Hogwarts c-castle under D-Dumbledore's protection. And I h-have no doubt that, by now, my d-daughter is t-there too," Cyrus said, thinking of a place Voldemort wouldn't dare to attack, "I'm afraid we won't be a-able to reach them now, it's probably best to focus on anoth-"

"No. I will just have to step up my plans," Voldemort declared.

"Are you sure that is a good idea? The dementors are breeding as planned, but the new ones are not ready to fight yet. They are just like children," Lucius explained.

"Then they can fight against children," Voldemort retorted with a nod of his head.

* * *

After Daphne finished talking to Harry, she returned to the Slytherin common room where she found Professor Snape talking to Astoria, Tracey, Pansy, and several other girls. She mostly heard the girls saying no, but she wasn't quite sure what question they were answering.

"How about you, Miss Greengrass? There has been a brash of thefts in the girl's dormitories lately. Are you missing anything? Was anything stolen?" Professor Snape asked Daphne.

"Oh, no professor, nothing missing," Daphne said.

"Really? Are you sure?" Professor Snape looked Daphne in the eyes with his arms folded across his chest.

"Not that I have noticed anyway." Daphne returned his gaze and she could tell he didn't believe her. Then she gulped as she realized her father probably already contacted him about the 'stolen' package he sent her. Of course, it is unlikely he told him exactly what was stolen.

"My father claims he sent me something… Something I never saw in the first place. My sister thinks it might have been stolen, but… I don't know. Last time that happened, it turned out he just forgot to send it." Daphne grinned sheepishly hoping he would believe her.

"Actually, I kind of fibbed to dad!" Astoria chimed in with a chuckle. "I think you are right, but I wasn't about to tell dad that." She smiled at Daphne, who found it profoundly disturbing how good of a liar her sister was.

"Well, if it turns out something was stolen, you will let me know. Won't you?" Professor Snape insisted. Daphne watched as Pansy and Tracey both rose from their seats and left, both going downstairs toward the girl's dormitories.

"Sure." Daphne scoffed at that. "Actually, professor. I will..." She paused and looked around just to make sure there were no other students around, other than her sister of course. "I will level with you. Nothing was stolen. I lied…" She paused and looked around again then she whispered, "To my father actually. I did get that package, but I didn't want it. It was a love potion. My father wanted me to use it on Harry."

"Potter?" Professor Snape asked in an eerily calm tone.

"Yes." Daphne nodded, then explained, "But that isn't the worst part." She yet again looked around just to make sure no other students were coming.

"Well don't keep me in suspense. Out with it," Professor Snape insisted.

"He wanted me to use that against Harry. Make him fall in love and marry me, then they planned to," she looked around again as her nervousness only ramped up. "Then he planned to have him killed."

Astoria's jaw dropped as she rose from her seat. "She is telling the truth. I am not sure why she is, but she is."

"Don't worry. I will have a little chat with your father first chance I get," Professor Snape said calmly.

"Of course, he is going to deny…" She stopped as she noticed Draco approaching.

Draco barged in and interrupted. "He wouldn't tell me what it was about, but my father requested you call him," Draco informed Professor Snape.

Professor Snape nodded to Draco and only gave Daphne the briefest of glances before leaving.

"I am surprised you are back so soon." Draco gave Daphne a snide look after Professor Snape left.

Daphne folded her arms across her chest. "I guess your father, or was it your Aunt, told you all about my father's little dinner party?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, and how you so rudely left early," Draco sneered at her.

"Let me guess. They want you to turn me over to Voldemort." Daphne backed away from Draco.

"My Aunt probably does, but my father and I…" Draco snickered with a bit of an eyeroll before Astoria interrupted him.

"Your… f-father knew about the- the d-dinner party?" Astoria asked stuttering on her words.

"Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head over," Draco said to Astoria. Then he turned his attention back to Daphne. "Like I was saying, my father and I have other plans."

Daphne rolled her eyes at Draco and managed to stop herself from asking what she really wanted to know, which was why on earth would I actually trust you, but instead she simply asked "And what plans would that be?" She folded her arms across her chest. Her Patronus that still remained perched on her shoulder seemed to stand at attention.

"We are simply going to keep you away from Voldemort," Draco put his hand on her shoulder, the opposite side to where the Patronus stood, "If he or any dementors tries to come near you or your sister for that matter, I will protect you both, with my own life if it comes to-" He briefly stopped talking and his face seemed to turn white with fright. "Oh, no, they're here!"

Several of the new dementors ignored Voldemort's orders to avoid Slytherin and made their way in. Draco immediately ran away, up the stairs to the boy's dormitory leaving Daphne and Astoria behind.

"Where are you going?" Astoria watched as Draco disappeared up the stairs.

"So much for his protection," Daphne muttered to herself. She too wanted to run as the fear of being around a dementor set in, but with her sister there, she knew that wasn't an option. The dementors seemed to lock on to that and head straight for her. Then her Patronus took flight and slammed right into the dementor. At first the dementor tried to feed upon the Patronus, but then it let out an ear-piercing scream and seemed to explode in a brilliant flash of blue-white light, not unlike that of her Patronus.

"You did it!" Astoria applauded her sister.

"Yeah, but there are probably many more," Daphne said. "Did you ever actually learn the Patronus charm?"

"No," Astoria admitted. "I didn't take it very seriously. I was just trying to get excused from class."

"I figured as much." Daphne sighed. "I want you to go to your room. With any luck, the same magic that stops boys from going into the girl's dorms will also stop the dementors from going in. If not.." She removed the locket that was a portkey and gave it to her sister. "Use this."

"I can't." Astoria refused to take the key.

"You saw how effective my Patronus was. I won't need it. I just want you to be safe, ok?" Daphne hugged her sister and gave her the portkey.

Reluctantly Astoria agreed and left upstairs with the portkey. She figured that she would be a liability to Daphne if she were to follow her, and if she didn't take the portkey, Daphne would worry about her safety and wouldn't be able to focus. Astoria rationalized that the best she could do now was to make sure her sister's head would be one hundred percent focused on the battle ahead of her.

* * *

Daphne left the Slytherin dungeons feeling only a fraction of the confidence she just boasted to her sister. She had a feeling she would regret giving up that portkey, but not as much as she would regret it if her sister died. She knew she would rather die herself over allowing that to happen.

Much to her dismay, this was no isolated incident. Dementors swarmed much of Hogwarts in numbers far greater than ever seen before. Many of the students Harry taught the Patronus spell to last year effectively held some of the dementors at bay.

Much to Cho Chang's shock she encountered several dementors in the hallway. Even though her relationship with Harry didn't last, she certainly felt grateful for the fact that she had been taught the Patronus charm last year. She focused on the memory of the Yule ball and her dancing with Cedric and the memory of her kiss with Harry. An incredibly beautiful swan formed from the tip of her wand made purely of light and glowing energy. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Dementors completely surrounded her swan and began to feed upon it. Several dementors surrounded Cho too.

Daphne came upon the scene and her dove flew right in, going first for the one that was to kiss Cho. Just as Dumbledore had hoped, Daphne's Patronus yet again proved its worth and completely destroyed the dementor. Unfortunately, the screech of the dementor's death distracted Cho causing her to block her ears and drop her wand. Her swan disappeared. The group of dementors that attempted to feed off it turned toward Cho and Daphne. Daphne's dove whirled around and cut through the group of them.

"Thank you," Cho said to Daphne. She bent down and picked up her wand. She focused on a happy memory again and her swan came back.

"You're welcome," Daphne responded smiling at Cho, but then that smile disappeared very quickly as she caught a glimpse of her father.

"I am very disappointed in you, young lady," Cyrus told his daughter, who only chuckled at his gruff demeanor. He opened his mouth to ask her what she was laughing at.

"The feeling is most certainly mutual," Daphne interrupted before he could get those words out.

Cyrus narrowed his eyes as he glared at his daughter. "What gives you the audacity to speak to me like that? How dare you!" Cyrus raised his hand to Daphne about to slap her.

Daphne didn't react, frozen in shock at the realization that her father was willing to hit her. Thankfully, Cho intervened. "Everte Statum!" Cho waved her wand, which sent Cyrus flying backwards several feet and crashing into a wall.

"Thanks, we are even," Daphne told Cho. She couldn't help yet again feeling disappointed in her father, but she also felt rather foolish at the same time. She should have known he would resort to such behavior after he no longer had his punching bag.

"Not even close," Cho said fully realizing that the dementors Daphne just saved her from were far more dangerous than the jerk of a Father Daphne had. "How about we are friends?"

"Friends, yes," Daphne smiled.

Her father got back up again. "I would make your new little friend pay for that, but we have something far more important to do," Cyrus said.

"We? No, whatever you are planning, I will not be a part of it," Daphne said.

"I want to keep you away from Voldemort," Cyrus told her.

"Do you really expect me to believe you?" Daphne glared at her father. "I heard that same crap from Malfoy."

"You don't believe me," Cyrus asked incredulously.

"After all the lies you told, let me think." She paused and thought for the briefest of moments. "No!" She exclaimed with a raised voice.

Daphne was so distracted by her conversation with her father when Cho nudged her shoulder. "Ah Daphne," Cho said.

"What is…" Daphne said as she looked around. "Crap!" She realized she and Cho were surrounded.

"Well done Greengrass. You captured her."

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank everyone who read, favorited, followed and or reviewed this story. I would also like to thank CSGT for his help with this story.

If anyone is into Ben 10, CSGT writes amazing Ben 10 stories.


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